Basic definitions and introduction -- Natural course of wound repair versus impaired healing in chronic skin ulcers -- Milestones in the history of wound healing -- Etiology and mechanisms of cutaneous ulcer formation -- Determining etiology: history and physical examination -- Determining etiology: biopsy and laboratory investigation -- Ulcer measurement and patient assessment -- Dressing materials -- Debridement -- Antibiotics, antiseptics, and cutaneous ulcers -- Topical antibacterial agents -- Skin grafting -- Skin substitutes and tissue-engineered skin equivalents -- Human skin equivalents: when and how to use -- Growth factors -- Drugs, wound healing and cutaneous ulcers -- Alternative topical preparations -- Additional topical preparations -- Nutrition and cutaneous ulcers -- Therapeutic approach to cutaneous ulcers according to appearance -- Appendix: Guidelines for patients and medical staff
Summary
Instructs the reader how to diagnose and treat wounds and cutaneous ulcers. This clinical guidebook introduces an algorithmic approach for the identification of ulcer etiology, together with step-by-step flow charts for therapy. It offers helpful support to the physicians who treat acute and chronic cutaneous wounds
