Payne and Martin developed a classification that can be used to describe skin tears in the elderly and other patients with frail skin. This can help in the documentation of the lesion and monitoring the response to therapeutic interventions.
Clinical Features
Category
skin tear without significant tissue loss
I
skin tear with partial loss of the overlying tissue
II
complete loss of overlying, with no epidermal flap remaining
III
Subtypes of Type I
Features
linear
epidermis and dermis pulled apart; resemble the incision made by a knife
flap
an epidermal flap almost completely covers the dermis
Subtypes of Type II
Features
scant tissue loss
loss of = < 25% of the epidermal flap
moderate to large tissue loss
loss of > 25% of the epidermal skin flap
To read more or access our algorithms and calculators, please log in or register.
