Evidence in wound care

Wound management research improves patient care and clinical outcomes by standardising assessment, planning and implementation of treatment. In the field of wound care, high-level evidence is possible, but it can be difficult to conduct due to the wide-ranging nature of wounds and patients.  

Additionally, there is an ever-growing variety of products and devices available to practitioners to improve healing rates and patient outcomes. In many cases, these products have enabled practitioners to heal more complex wounds and manage more challenging and difficult cases. However, practitioners must be able to critically appraise evidence to make appropriate and effective evidence-based changes to practice.

The first article on page 4 titled ‘Overview of evidence in wound care’ sets the global scene of wound care research, as well as looking at the available study designs and their strengths and weaknesses. It provides a clear description of the levels of evidence available for wound care, the types of evidence available and their application to practice.

The second article on page 11, ‘Assessing level 1 evidence in wound care’, looks at what practitioners need to know to critically appraise level 1 evidence, especially randomised controlled trials, in order to evaluate their value and ascertain how the findings can be applied to practice.

The final paper starting on page 18, ‘Translation of evidence to practice into improve outcomes’, considers the steps required to achieve successful transition from research evidence to making changes in clinical practice, and the barriers that need to be overcome. The article guides practitioners on how to make evidence-based changes to their practice, with examples.

Supported by an educational grant from Urgo Medical.

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