One of the greatest clinical challenges in wound management is effective, acceptable and cost-effective containment of excessive wound exudate, particularly in non-healing or slow-to-heal chronic wounds and infected wounds. While moist wound healing is desirable, too little or too much exudate will adversely affect the rate of healing so achieving the right moisture balance is essential. Excess exudate and its ineffectual management will have a significant negative influence on patients' quality of life due to discomfort, leakage and malodour, frequent dressing changes, skin stripping and soiling of their clothes. In terms of cost, the extended treatment period associated with sub-optimal management or mismanagement of wound exudate will inevitably lead to increased treatment costs for dressings, staff time and possibly extra costs associated with the management of peri-wound damage from maceration and/or excoriation, and antimicrobials. Again, this results in an increased risk of infection, unnecessary stress and inconvenience for patients. Comprehensive, current assessment of the patient and the wound is required to identify any underlying contributing factors followed by identification of the stage, status and condition of the wound. A focused team effort is then needed to tackle the problem in a systematic way using a multi-disciplinary approach that includes the patient's input where possible.
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