Nontraditional Methods to Evaluate Wound Healing

BACKGROUND: Traditional evaluation of wound healing is sometimes subjective. It is necessary to develop qualitative and quantitative methods to enable more efficient and accurate evaluation of wounds. Recently, new techniques have been introduced and the correspondence between these techniques and clinician judgment is critical. OBJECTIVE: Some nontraditional techniques that analyze wound healing were reviewed, which include measurements of the wound area, tissue color, skin barrier function, skin humidity, and keratinocyte morphology. METHODS: This review article is based on medical research that focuses on the evaluation of wound healing. RESULTS: Software-based and advanced device-based techniques generally provide more accurate and precise results than traditional ones, such as the ruler-based technique. Measurement of tissue color can also help to identify the type of tissue. Evaluation of skin barrier function can assist clinicians to analyze functional restoration of skin, whereas skin humidity demonstrates the exudate production status of the wound. In addition, keratinocyte morphology in the wound bed indicates quality of wound healing and side effects of treatment. CONCLUSION: There is no gold standard method for qualitative and quantitative evaluation of wound healing. It is important to understand the type of wound, sample size, results obtained, advantages, and limitations of each technique.

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