The Specialized Wound Care Center

In Brief Multidisciplinary wound care centers have proliferated as a result of an increasing need for care of nonhealing wounds. Information regarding types of wounds treated, length of treatment, compliance with treatment, and rates of healing was collected from a tertiary care hospital-based wound center over a 7-year period. Venous stasis ulcers were the most common type of wound treated (21%) and were also the most likely to heal. Pressure ulcers (20%), diabetic neuropathic ulcers (14%), ischemic ulcers (6%), and postsurgical wounds (6%) comprised the remainder of wounds treated. The success of treating wounds varied greatly with the wound's etiology. Despite the chronic nature of these wounds, most patients did not become long-term patients of the wound center. This study provides baseline outcome measures, which can serve as the basis for the comparison of treatment protocols and the development of prospective clinical trials. Over a 7-year period 2685 wounds were treated at a hospital-based multidisciplinary wound care center. Most favorable results were obtained in the treatment of venous stasis ulcers (the most commonly seen), followed by pressure ulcers, diabetic ulcers, ischemic ulcers, and postsurgical wounds.