The evolution of wound care.

Today, for many, wound care has advanced somewhat, but in reality, since the evolution of ‘moist wound healing’, no major advances have really become part of the routine wound care delivered to patients in 2016. While in other clinical areas, diagnostics and advanced biological treatments (e.g. stem cells) are becoming routine in wound care, many of these types of approaches are not beyond the research stages. As ‘wound carers’ of differing experience levels, we are exposed to different approaches and treatments. In the nearly 55 years since Winter’s findings, wound care has advanced, but can we continue to call a range of treatments ‘advanced wound care’ when they have been around for 20+ years. It appears that in the past couple of decades, the advancements on the provision of wound care have been somewhat limited, certainly in comparison to other clinical areas. That is not to say there have been no new products or technologies, but they have not move our approach that significantly forward. Why? Many reasons could exist as the main evolutionary blocks for wound care, but which are the true barriers?