2001; Prompers et al. 2008; Treece et al. 2004) with it being suggested that if a wound area hasn’t decreased by at least 40% during the first 4 weeks of treatment, then the chances of complete recovery/healing without changes to the treatment, decrease significantly (Steed et al. 2006). Both Flanagan et al. (2003) and Sheehan et al (2003) suggest that a 40% reduction in wound area after 4 weeks is a good predictor of the wound healing within 12 weeks. With this in mind and with healthcare professionals increasingly expected to validate interventions and give a rationale to support their practice (Davis et al. 2013), it is essential that methods of wound measurement are both valid and reliable. Agreement with other tools, accuracy, feasibility and reliability/consistency of wound measurement tools are central issues in the practical management of wounds and in the development of new treatments, dressings, and care options for a large group of people (Jørgensen et al. 2015). Feasibility refers to how practical a tool is to use for patients and staff, the time required to use a particular tool (O’Meara et al. 2012) and resource utilization (Brazier et al. 1999; Ryan et al. …show more content…
‘Mr Smith’ is a 58 year old male patient; aged 51, ‘Mr Smith’ was diagnosed with diabetic neuropathy and had his right second toe amputated 2 years later due to neuropathic diabetic foot sepsis. Recently, ‘Mr Smith’ developed an inflamed right hallux; he was admitted to hospital as an emergency and the results of an x-ray revealed neuropathic diabetic foot sepsis with osteomyelitis; his right hallux and right third toe were amputated. Following surgery ‘Mr Smith’ was left with a large cavity wound, which although debrided was found to contain Candida, Klebsiella and Ecoli. ‘Mr Smith’ was placed on a wound care integrated pathway of care for his surgical wound which was measured twice weekly, at each dressing change, using a ruler as part of the TIME wound assessment. ‘Mr Smith’s’ wound would be described a chronic as he had a number of underlying factors expected to delay/disrupt the normal healing process- infections, diabetes, diabetic neuropathy, no pedal pulses indicating venous insufficiency to his lower limbs due to critical limb ishchaemia and poor nutritional