Editorial & opinion

20 years in wound healing:

where we are now

F
Suzie Calne
Editor, Wounds International

If you would like to contribute to a

future issue of the journal, please
contact Suzie Calne, Editor,
Wounds International, at:
suzie.calne@woundsgroup.com

or 20 years, or more, I have attended

the Wounds UK annual conference held
in the international conference centre
in Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. This
year the event, billed as Decoding Science
Transforming Practice was bigger and better
than ever before. With over 1,500 delegates
visiting the conference, the symposium
sessions were well attended and the interactive
Made Easy workshops seemed full to bursting.
I was particularly pleased that this years
programme reflected the dynamic nature of the
speciality and the many innovations that have
evolved over the past two decades. The analysis
and science of wound healing is notably
more advanced today compared with the
early 1990s; this years sessions on diagnostics
and references to DNA sequencing are good
examples of where we are now in terms of our
scientific understanding.
Another presentation, on the use of immersive
learning, caught my attention as it provided an
innovative approach to teaching about wound
care. Debbie Roberts from Glyndr University
and Karen Ousey from the University of
Huddersfield shared their experiences of using a
simulated ward environment and providing lifelike scenarios for students to gain experience
and to enhance learning. To showcase their
immersive learning facilities, Ousey and Roberts
gave the example of teaching and preparing
students for malodourous wounds. This involves
injecting a specific odour into a simulated ward
and giving students the opportunity to be
exposed to the odour, with time for the students
to adjust to it before feeding back their reactions.
This represents an exciting development in
wound management education as a patient will
frequently remark I could tell by his/her face that
he/she was shocked or disgusted. This initiative
offers an important learning opportunity that
could ultimately improve patient care.
The conference also addressed the
challenges of managing wounds in increasingly
complex situations. Joyce Black, Associate
Professor at the University of Nebraska in the
US, shared her unique experiences of managing
wounds in bariatric patients. She asserted
the need for thorough skin inspection of all
anatomical areas at risk of pressure damage,
telling the audience that on one occasion she

Our understanding of the science

of wound care continues to evolve,
but chronic wounds do not go away
and the problems and suffering they
create remain the same.
had found a remote control for a television
in a patients abdominal fold! Managing
wounds in bariatric patients is a relatively new
challenge and was nowhere to be found on the
programme 20 years ago.
Antimicrobial resistance is another topic that
has more recently been recognised as a major
challenge. On page 4, the International Wound
Infection Institute (IWII) provides ten top tips
on preventing antibiotic resistance. The authors
quote the World Health Organization (WHO) that
antibiotic resistance is no longer a prediction for
the future; it is happening right now, across the
world. The ten top tips on preventing antibiotic
resistance stresses how clinicians in wound care
have an immediate and critical responsibility
towards combating antibiotic resistance. It is
a seminal paper that gives guidance on the
appropriate use of antimicrobials as well as the
importance of education for all. While the IWII
stresses the need for companies to invest in
developing new antibiotics, the authors also
identify the importance of treatments that can
be used to manage wound infection and avoid
the risk of resistance.
Its the end of 2014, another year in which
there have been many excellent educational
events and materials produced. Our
understanding of the science of wound care
continues to evolve, but chronic wounds do
not go away and the problems and suffering
they create remain the same. These are global
problems that present a significant challenge
to both patients and healthcare professionals
alike. There is still a lot to learn and events like
Harrogate provide an important platform for
WINT
improving patient care. 

Suzie Calne
Editor, Wounds International

Wounds International 2014 | Vol 5 Issue 4 | Wounds International 2014 | www.woundsinternational.com 3