Maggot Debridement Therapy

By Ron Sherman MD, MSC, DTM&H Over 80 years ago, Dr. William Baer — then Chair of Orthopedic Surgery at Johns Hopkins — observed that wounds debrided with maggot therapy healed at least as well and...

By Laurie Swezey RN, BSN, CWOCN, CWS, FACCWS There are four main types of debridement: mechanical, autolytic, enzymatic, and surgical. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Let’s take a lo...

By Aletha Tippett MD Understanding Pathergy and Pyoderma Gangrenosum Pathergy is an aberration of the skin’s innate reactivity from a homeostatic reactive mode closely coupled to tissue healing to...

Necrotic wounds are characterized by devitalized, or dead, tissue. Necrosis may be caused by malignancy, infection, trauma, ischemia, inflammation, or exposure to toxins. It may also be caused by impr...

By Aletha Tippett MD Once the individual has been thoroughly assessed for palliative care and his or her objectives and needs have been discussed, the wound care provider must determine the wound m...

Wound care clinicians should understand the potential complications associated with the common types of debridement and the steps wound care providers can take to reduce the patient’s risk. Below the ...

By Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine Journal Review Club Editor's note: This post is part of the Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine (TUSPM) journal review club blog series....

Nonviable tissue in the wound bed can be divided into 2 broad categories: slough and eschar. Although these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, it is vital to distinguish between them as they ma...

By Aletha Tippett MD In reading through the recent WoundSource blog archives, I just had to write in support of Dr. Ron Sherman’s blog on our perception of maggot therapy. His blog was in response ...