Preparing the wound bed--debridement, bacterial balance, and moisture balance.

Successful diagnosis and treatment of patients with chronic wounds involve holistic care and a team approach. The integration of the work of an interdisciplinary care team that includes doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals with the patient, family, significant others, and caregivers offers an optimal formula for achieving wound resolution. Such an approach challenges practitioners and everyone participating in wound care to integrate data and information that arise from a number of sources and mitigating factors. In this article, the authors define the changing paradigm that links treatment of the cause and focuses on three components of local wound care: debridement, wound-friendly moist interactive dressings, and bacterial balance. The authors demonstrate that the treatment of chronic wounds can be accomplished through a series of recommendations and rationales based on the literature and their experience. These recommendations lay the groundwork for thorough assessment and evaluation of the wound.