Wound Infection

Wound infection is arguably the most common, and at the same time the most potentially devastating, complication of the wound healing process. When inadequately managed, wound infection can incur increased medical expenses, lead to secondary complications, and even cause loss of limb or life. For these reasons, a thorough understanding of wound infection is essential for all medical practitioners who engage in wound care.

Wound Infection is the Korean Wound Management Society’s second compilation volume on wound evaluation and management. Like its predecessor Wound Dressing Materials: The Essentials published in March 2018, the compilation is based on the contents of the Society’s Annual Educational Symposium, in this case the 2018 Symposium that was held in September 2018 with the theme “Wound Infection: The Essentials.” As the aim of the Symposium was to provide up-to-date and down-to-earth knowledge and information on all essential clinical aspects of wound infection to an audience including both professionals and non-professionals in wound care, Wound Infection was also written and compiled with the same objectives.

Wound Infection is a single-volume, 274-page-long hardcover book, the brainchild of a seven-person Compilation Committee headed by Professor Seung-Kyu Han, current President of the Korean Wound Management Society and author of various volumes on wound care including Innovations and Advances in Wound Healing, and 23 wound experts as authors. Among physicians, plastic surgeons generally go through the most intensive and sophisticated wound management training during residency, and therefore are usually at the forefront of professional wound care. However, the perspectives of other specialists are also always valuable, especially in fields such as imaging studies and laboratory tests where plastic surgeons may not be as knowledgeable. Accordingly, specialists in not only plastic surgery, but also orthopedic surgery, laboratory medicine, radiology, and infectious diseases, as well as wound, ostomy, and continence nurses, are included among the authors.

A compilation of works from such a diverse set of authors would be ideal if well-managed, but could also be dangerous given the differences among specialties in knowledge levels, areas of interest, and treatment policies, not to mention nomenclature and terminology. Wound Infection succeeds here by adhering to its original objective—providing practical and essential knowledge that can be readily implemented by all clinicians and practitioners, not only wound care professionals. The authors have endeavored to ensure that any medical practitioner can readily understand the contents of the book, even without professional wound care expertise or experience. Again, like its predecessor, Wound Infection focuses on providing practical information by presenting the evidence-based clinical experiences of the authors with literature reviews, rather than trying to convey academic basic research and theoretical studies. The terminology most familiar to the general Korean medical community was chosen for use in the text, again to facilitate better understanding. A large volume of graphic illustrations, figures, tables, radiologic images, and clinical case photographs further helps readers easily understand and apply the contents of this book to their practice.

The book is composed of four parts and 17 chapters. Part I, with four chapters, constitutes an overview of wound infection, including a glossary. The pathophysiology of wound healing versus infection, the grading of wound infection including the wound infection continuum, and microbiology are outlined in the latter chapters. Part II covers the methods of diagnosing wound infection, beginning with the telltale signs and symptoms for a clinical diagnosis, followed by blood and biomarker laboratory tests, wound culture tests, and principles of radiologic interpretation in cases of wound infection. Stateof-the-art current trends and anticipated future technologies in diagnostic tests are not overlooked, and some shortfalls of Korea’s National Health Insurance Service concerning the diagnosis of infections are also addressed. Part III is about wound infection treatment, and therefore offers the most action, ranging from antiseptics, antibiotic regimens, and non-surgical and surgical debridement to antimicrobial dressings. Again, the health insurance regulations that sometimes inhibit the effective management of wound infections are mentioned here. Part IV is a somewhat special section, dedicated to the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of chronic wounds. Osteomyelitis, diabetic wounds, and pressure injuries are covered here, but of particular interest is chapter 14, “Biofilm: Paradigm Shift of Chronic Wound Care”; the chapter title speaks for itself, and much of its content may seem shocking, discouraging, or groundbreaking to those unfamiliar with this relatively new concept—to the point that some might even say that this single chapter contradicts almost everything we have thought, known, and done about infection.

The 17 chapters of Wound Infection are independent of each other, giving the book an easy-to-look-up compact format. Plentiful graphic accompaniments and its solid, wide-ranging content strengthen the volume’s value for any and all practitioners interested or involved in wound care. From general practitioners or nurses with minimal specialist training, to medical and surgical residents and specialists of all clinical departments, and of course even to certified wound management professionals including us plastic surgeons, Wound Infection will surely help build a basic foundation for wound infection management or update and review our established knowledge and skills.

Conflict of interest

HK, the corresponding author of this article, is a member of the Compilation Committee for Wound Infection and also one of the authors. Otherwise, no potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.

Publikationsverlauf

Eingereicht: 07. Juni 2019

Angenommen: 11. Juli 2019

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
03. April 2022