Understanding and Managing Cavity Wounds
Fiona Downie from TVN‑TV offers practical insights into the assessment and treatment of cavity wounds—deep tissue defects that can extend beneath intact skin layers and complicate healing.
Key Highlights:
- Definition & Prevalence: Cavity wounds include sinuses, dehisced surgical sites, and deep ulcers. These wounds often go underreported due to inconsistent definitions in clinical audits.
- Assessment Best Practices: Effective evaluation includes probing for depth, noting undermining or tunneling, documenting exudate levels, identifying signs of infection, and photographing the wound for monitoring.
- Dressing Selection: Loose-packing with absorbent, conformable dressings like gelling fibres helps fill dead space and manage moisture. Dressings should be changed frequently enough to prevent maceration but not so often that they disrupt healing.
- Minimizing Trauma: Atraumatic dressings with silicone contact layers can reduce pain and skin stripping during dressing changes, which is critical for fragile or elderly patients.
- Case Application: One featured case used Exufiber® gelling fibre in a high-exudate cavity wound. The dressing absorbed fluid effectively, was easy to remove, and supported full closure in about 8 weeks.
This video-based resource reinforces the importance of careful wound assessment, strategic dressing use, and patient-specific planning for effective management of cavity wounds.
Watch the full video or access additional guidance on the TVN-TV website.
Keywords:
cavity wounds,
gelling fibre dressings,
Safetac,
debridement,
Exufiber