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Wound Care

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Post-Acute and Long-Term Medicine

Part of the book series: Current Clinical Practice ((CCP))

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Abstract

The medical and psychosocial complexities of wound care highlight the challenges that face practitioners in long term care (LTC). Wounds can be classified as a medical problem, a geriatric syndrome, or part of a larger systems-based problem. Understanding wound formation and healing is critical to the prevention and treatment of wounds. Treatment plans must not only address the wound itself but also comorbidities and medications that may hinder healing or predispose patients to acquiring wounds. The psychosocial and ethical principles of caring for patients who are no longer able to participate in their own care subsume a critical role in treatment success or failure. Though wounds may have more than one etiology, the four most common types of wounds will be reviewed: pressure, diabetic, ischemic or arterial, and venous. Pressure ulcers are emphasized due to their implications on quality of care in the LTC environment.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geriatric Medicine, Albert Einstein Medical Center, 5501 Old York Road, Paley 4320, Philadelphia, PA, 19141, USA

    Ganesh Merugu MD & Andrew Rosenzweig MD, CMD, FACP

Authors
  1. Ganesh Merugu MD
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  2. Andrew Rosenzweig MD, CMD, FACP
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew Rosenzweig MD, CMD, FACP .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Pamela A. Fenstemacher

  2. Department of Family and Preventive Medi, University of Oklahoma Department of Family and Preventive Medi, OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, USA

    Peter Winn

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Merugu, G., Rosenzweig, A. (2016). Wound Care. In: Fenstemacher, P., Winn, P. (eds) Post-Acute and Long-Term Medicine. Current Clinical Practice. Humana Press, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16979-8_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16979-8_13

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16978-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16979-8

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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