ABSTRACT
Despite the large number of variables involved and their uniqueness for each patient, wounds can be broadly classified as acute or chronic. In the former case, the injury tends to occur rather rapidly, and then go through the stages of the wound healing process in a predictable timeline. Examples of acute wounds discussed in this chapter are traumatic injuries, surgical incisions and burns. By contrast, chronic wounds can take a long time to develop and an even longer time to heal, experiencing the stages of wound healing in an unexpected and/or untimely manner. The chronicity of wounds is often linked to an underlying issue. Venous and arterial diseases, diabetes and poor mobility are the key ones, leading to venous leg ulcers, arterial leg ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers and pressure ulcers, respectively. The challenges of these main types of acute and chronic wounds are discussed, including excessive blood loss (particularly for traumatic wounds), infection, wound delay factors, and for burns, risks of fluid and heat loss, scarring and skin contraction.
