Lower Extremity Wounds

Lower limb wounds are frequently observed in clinical practice and often present a real challenge for health care practitioners. Lower extremity wound care requires a multidisciplinary approach involving a number of different health care professionals in order to achieve optimum patient care. Nurses and podiatrists, in particular, are frequently involved in the assessment and management of lower extremity wounds, often working in partnership. Lower Extremity Wounds: A problem-based learning approach is the first wound care book that has been written as a joint venture by experienced nurses and podiatrists, all with expert knowledge in wound care. It highlights the importance of multi-professional collaboration to encourage the crossing and dismantling of professional boundaries, to increase understanding of each other's roles, and ultimately to ensure that the patient receives the best available evidence-based interventions during their health care journey. Taking a problem-based learning approach, each of the ten chapters highlights best practice in the management of wounds by type, discusses clinical guidelines and current evidence, and links this theory to a clinical scenario thus bridging the theory to practice gap. Numerous full-colour illustrations are used throughout the book to visually enhance the reader's learning. Aimed at both students and practitioners, this book is essential reading for anyone involved in lower extremity wound care.

Foreword (David Gray). Introduction (Karen Ousey and Caroline McIntosh). 1 The Need for a Multiprofessional Approach in Wound Care (Caroline McIntosh and Karen Ousey). 2 Physiology of Wound Healing (Karen Ousey and Caroline McIntosh). 3 Skin Changes in the At-Risk Limb (Caroline McIntosh and Kimberley Martin). 4 Infected Wounds (Nicoletta Frescos and Tabatha Rando). 5 Leg Ulcers (Adrienne Taylor). 6 Surgical Wounds (Jacqui Fletcher). 7 Pressure Ulcers (Karen Ousey and Caroline McIntosh). 8 Diabetic Foot Ulcers (Caroline McIntosh and Veronica Newton). 9 Foot Ulceration in Rheumatoid Arthritis (Deborah Turner, Jill Firth and Heidi Davys). 10 Nail Surgery Wounds (Caroline McIntosh and Steve Hancox). Editor and Author Biographies. Index.