What is a wound?
Eastman: A wound is basically defined as any break in the integrity of the skin. There are two primary categories of wound – acute and chronic. An acute wound is one that follows a normal process of healing. For example, if a healthy individual breaks a bone and the physician sets it and protects it with a cast, the natural healing process is expected to take over from there. An acute wound can be surgical (that is, a planned intervention), or traumatic (for example, caused by an accident). A chronic wound is one that does not proceed through the normal stages of healing. There are many different factors that can alter the normal healing process, including chronic illnesses, poor vascular flow, and infections. If I had to categorize the three most common types of chronic wounds, they would be pressure ulcers, neuropathic ulcers, and vascular ulcers. These categories do not cover all chronic wounds, but represent the majority. Those of the first type, pressure ulcers (or pressure sores)
