Wounds
A wound refers to an injury to the skin and surrounding tissues that causes splitting or tearing of the skin and normal tissue. When a wound occurs, the body works to repair itself and close the wound.
What Is the Difference Between an Acute Wound and a Chronic Wound?
- An acute wound is a wound that results from a sudden injury and is able to heal on its own within the normal wound healing timeframe.
- A chronic wound is a wound that cannot progress through the normal healing process — both in terms of physical structure and cellular function. The wound remains in the inflammatory phase for longer than one month, causing a delayed transition into the tissue-building phase. There is no advancement of the wound edges, and abnormal tissue growth may occur.
What Are the Stages of Wound Healing?
Wound healing is a mechanism that restores both the physical structure and function of damaged tissue back to its original state. It consists of four stages:
- Hemostasis Phase — The body uses platelets as the key cells to initiate the process, stopping bleeding from the wound.
- Inflammatory Phase — White blood cells (leukocytes and macrophages) destroy pathogens and clear away dead cells to clean the wound.
- Proliferative Phase — This is the main tissue-rebuilding stage, involving the synthesis of ground substance and matrix, angiogenesis (new blood vessel formation), fibroplasia, granulation tissue formation, epithelialization, and collagen deposition.
- Remodeling Phase (Maturation Phase) — Collagen fibers are reorganized and wound contraction occurs, resulting in the wound becoming smaller and flatter.
What Services Does the Wound Care Clinic Offer?
Ostomy Care
- Care provided by specialist nurses in wound and ostomy management and continence care
- Post-operative care for patients who have undergone abdominal stoma surgery
- Education and guidance on stoma care for both patients and caregivers
- Hands-on teaching and demonstration of self-care for patients with an abdominal stoma and their caregivers
Chronic Wound Care Service
Chronic wounds are managed by a team of specialist surgeons experienced in complex and chronic wound care, together with a dedicated ET Nurse team. The goals are to promote faster wound healing, minimize complications, reduce pain during wound care, decrease unnecessary dressing changes, and utilize modern wound dressings and advanced wound care products.
Care Delivered by a Specialist Team
- Surgical specialist team
- ET Nurse team — Enterostomal Therapy Nurses specializing in wound and ostomy care
- A wide range of modern wound dressing materials