Rolled, thickened wound edges that curl under and stop advancing across the wound bed are called epibole, and they must be treated, often by debridement or chemical cautery, before closure can continue.
Missing Word
epibole
Epibole describes wound edges that have rolled under, so skin cells can no longer migrate across the wound. Debriding the rolled edge, or applying silver nitrate as a chemical cautery once the provider has assessed the wound and ordered it, lets the edges advance again.
Category: Wound Edges
Question 2
Soft, white, wrinkled skin at a wound's edge caused by prolonged exposure to drainage or moisture is called maceration.
Missing Word
maceration
Maceration is softening and breakdown of skin from too much moisture. It signals that the dressing is not managing drainage and makes the skin more likely to break down.
Category: Wound Edges
Question 3
A slimy community of bacteria embedded in a protective polysaccharide matrix on the wound bed, which can keep a wound stuck in the inflammatory phase, is a biofilm.
Missing Word
biofilm
A biofilm is a structured layer of microbes protected by a matrix they produce. It resists treatment and prolongs inflammation, and debridement is the best way to disrupt it.
Category: Debridement and Necrotic Tissue
Question 4
Breakdown of necrotic tissue by the body's own enzymes under a moisture-retaining dressing, the basis of the slowest and most conservative form of debridement, is called autolysis.
Missing Word
autolysis
Autolysis is self-digestion of dead tissue by enzymes the body already produces. It needs a moist environment and a functioning immune system, and it is slow but affects only nonviable tissue.
Category: Debridement and Necrotic Tissue
Question 5
A wound in which skin and underlying tissue are partly or completely torn away, sometimes called degloving, is an avulsion.
Missing Word
avulsion
An avulsion is the forcible tearing away of skin and deeper tissue. It differs from a laceration, which is a torn or jagged cut that stays attached.
Category: Wound Types
Question 6
The nurse documents redness and stripped skin where tape was pulled off the periwound, the zone of skin immediately around the wound, and switches to a gentler adhesive.
Missing Word
periwound
The periwound is the skin around the wound bed. Its condition shows infection, inflammation, moisture problems or injury from dressing adhesives, and protecting it keeps the wound from enlarging.
Category: Wound Assessment
Question 7
Moist, stringy, yellow or tan nonviable tissue that clings to the wound bed is a form of necrotic tissue called slough, which is softer than black eschar and is removed by debridement.
Missing Word
slough
Slough is soft, moist devitalized tissue, usually yellow, tan or gray, that adheres to the wound bed in strands or clumps. Like eschar, it blocks granulation tissue from filling the wound, and it should not be mistaken for cloudy drainage, which is fluid rather than attached tissue.
Category: Wound Assessment
Question 8
Erosion of tissue beneath intact skin at the wound edge, forming a hidden shelf, is called undermining and is documented by its location around the wound.
Missing Word
undermining
Undermining is tissue destruction under the wound margin that extends along the edge. It is measured and documented and is filled loosely with packing so the space can heal from the base.
Category: Wound Edges
Question 9
A narrow channel, or sinus tract, that extends from the wound bed into deeper tissue and can harbor bacteria is called tunneling.
Missing Word
tunneling
Tunneling is a channel leading away from the wound into deeper tissue. It must be measured and loosely packed so it does not close over a pocket of bacteria.
Category: Wound Edges
Question 10
Skin temperature and moisture at the surface where the body meets a mattress or chair, which affect how well tissue tolerates pressure, make up the microclimate.
Missing Word
microclimate
The microclimate is the temperature and humidity at the skin and support surface interface. Heat and moisture there lower the skin's tolerance to pressure and raise the risk of pressure injury.
Category: Pressure Injury Risk
Question 11
When the head of the bed is raised and a patient slides down, the skin stays fixed against the sheet while deeper tissue moves over the bone, a damaging force called shear.
Missing Word
shear
Shear is the force produced when layers of tissue slide against each other in opposite directions. It stretches and kinks deep vessels and, combined with pressure, causes pressure injuries.
Category: Pressure Injury Risk
Question 12
Negative pressure wound therapy is contraindicated over untreated osteomyelitis, an infection of the bone beneath the wound.
Missing Word
osteomyelitis
Osteomyelitis is infection of bone. Applying suction over untreated bone infection could seal it in, so the infection must be treated before negative pressure therapy is used.
Category: Specialized Wound Care
Question 13
Medical-grade honey, which is acidic and draws water out of bacterial cells, is used as an antimicrobial wound dressing but not for a patient allergic to it.
Missing Word
honey
Honey dressings fight bacteria because honey is acidic and hygroscopic. They come as pastes, alginates and hydrocolloids and are avoided in patients with a honey allergy.
Category: Specialized Wound Care
Question 14
Thick, hardened skin that builds up around the edge of a diabetic foot ulcer, a callus, is usually removed by sharp debridement.
Missing Word
callus
A callus is an area of thickened outer skin formed from repeated pressure. Around a foot ulcer it raises pressure on the wound and blocks the edges from advancing, so it is debrided.
Category: Debridement and Necrotic Tissue
Question 15
During hyperbaric oxygen therapy, patients wear gowns made of cotton, because synthetic fabrics, wool and silk can create static sparks in the oxygen-rich chamber.
Missing Word
cotton
Cotton does not build static charge the way synthetic fabrics, wool and silk can. In a chamber filled with concentrated oxygen, any spark is a fire hazard, so street clothes are replaced with cotton gowns.
Category: Specialized Wound Care