Criteria for a Chronic Wound

 

Criteria for a chronic wound:

(1) The wound has been present for >= 30 days.

(2) The wound has not completed the process of healing.

(3) The wound has not responded to or persisted despite appropriate therapy.

(4) The wound cannot be explained by other cause.

 

Chronic wounds are usually associated with one or more of the following mechanisms:

(1) vascular insufficiency (arterial, venous or mixed)

(2) pressure

(3) neuropathic

 

Differential diagnosis:

(1) malignant tumor

(2) excoriation or self-inflicted wound

(3) repeat injury