Wikblad and Anderson graded several clinical findings seen when dressing a healing wound. These can help to identify problems early, before they become serious. The authors are from Uppsala University in Sweden.
Parameters:
(1) pain at removing the dressing
(2) difficulty in removing the dressing
(3) erythema around the wound
(4) wound healing
Wound healing is based on edge separation and redness.
|
Edge Separation |
Redness |
Grade |
|
edges together; less than 5% of the entire length |
none to slight |
1 |
|
gap present; 5-20% of length |
slight to excessive |
2 |
|
> 20% of length |
excessive |
3 |
gap as percent of length =
= (gap width in cm) / (incision length in cm) / 100%
|
Parameter |
Finding |
Grade |
|
pain at dressing removal |
none |
1 |
|
|
slight to moderate pain |
2 |
|
|
very painful |
3 |
|
difficulty in dressing removal |
none |
1 |
|
|
slight to moderate difficulty |
2 |
|
|
very difficult |
3 |
|
erythema around incision |
none |
0 |
|
|
slight redness |
1 |
|
|
excessive redness |
2 |
|
wound healing |
well-healed |
1 |
|
|
partially healed |
2 |
|
|
poorly healed |
3 |
where:
• Erythema will be scored 1 to 3 in the implementation to match the other grades.
• The number of levels can be increased to allow better discrimination at the intermediate stages.
• Intermediate grades were used in the implementation to allow for responses that do not fit the grades listed in the first table above.
These measures can be used to compare wound dressings, provided they are evaluated under identical circumstances.
The authors also graded if the incision could be inspected through the dressing. A dressing that allows an incision to be inspected without need for removal results in less disturbance to the wound shortly after surgery.
|
Visibility of Incision |
Grade |
|
good |
1 |
|
partial |
2 |
|
not at all |
3 |
Specialty: Surgery, orthopedic, Emergency Medicine, Critical Care, Surgery, general
