Wound exudate: how to assess and manage exuding wounds for the best patient outcomes
Exudate – or wound fluid – plays a vital part in the natural wound healing process, but how do you manage exudate to get the best patient outcomes?
Managing exudate in chronic wounds: how much do you know?
Too much exudate may saturate the wound and could damage the surrounding skin, increasing the risk of complications and preventing or slowing healing. But too little exudate can mean a dry wound that may also be slow to heal. A moist wound bed and a dry periwound area are generally considered best for promoting healing. By understanding exudate and managing it correctly you can promote timely healing and reduce the risk of complications for your patients.
For chronic wounds, such as Venous leg ulcers (VLUs) or Diabetes related foot ulcers (DFU), where ongoing assessments are needed, monitoring and managing exudate is an important aspect of wound care. Excess exudate, which can cause leakage and odour, can be distressing for patients and may result in a slow-to-heal or non-healing wound. This can be extremely disheartening, both for patients and the healthcare professionals they rely on.
Dressing choice plays a key role in the effective management of exudate in chronic wounds combined with therapies such as debridement, compression and Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), depending on the type of wound.
You can learn more about exudate, including how to assess it, the ideal dressing for exudate management and the role of various wound therapies, in Exudate: Effective Assessment and management. This is a consensus document from the World Union of Healing Societies (WUWHS) 2019, supported by an education grant from Mölnlycke among others.
-
Mölnlycke Clinical Learning Hub
With the Mölnlycke Clinical Learning Hub, you can access online clinical learning covering key wound care, surgical and healthcare topics and continue learning and advancing your knowledge.
Start your learning journey -
Microworld: An interactive learning opportunity
Interactive learning offers a more hands-on approach to professional healthcare education. Microworld offers a way to make wound care education come to life for more effective learning.
mymicroworld.online
Related articles
Read all-
Wound care | 2 min read Venous Leg Ulcers and the never ending problem of leakage
Living with the distressing consequences of leakage from a venous leg ulcer (VLU) can undoubtedly significantly diminish a patient's quality of life. Individuals enduring the challenges of highly exuding wounds, such as VLUs, deserve a higher quality of healthcare. The disruptive effects of exudate leakage on daily life should no longer be tolerated. Change is coming…
-
Wound care | 5 min read The impact of venous leg ulcers and “leaky legs”
The chronic nature of venous leg ulcers (VLU) means that the cycle of skin healing followed by breakdown and potential for infection can repeat – sometimes over decades. This creates quality of life issues for patients1, in particular because of physical symptoms, which can be both painful and embarrassing.
-
Wound care | 5 min read Venous leg ulcers: Clinical understanding and epidemiology
Venous leg ulceration and chronic venous insufficiency represent a significant health problem throughout the world. Compression therapy is key to successful management¹.
-
Wound care | 4 min read Venous leg ulcers: Comprehensive management and care
Venous leg ulcers (VLUs) and chronic venous insufficiency require comprehensive management and care in order to heal, including clinical strategies and treatments drawn from guidelines and consensus recommendations.