Management of traumatic wounds in the Emergency Department: position paper from the Academy of Emergency Medicine and Care (AcEMC) and the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES).

Carolina Prevaldi,Carlo Locatelli,Giorgio Ricci,Fausto Catena,Gianfranco Cervellin,Luca Ansaloni,Ciro Paolillo

doi:10.1186/s13017-016-0084-3

Abstract

Traumatic wounds are one of the most common problems leading people to the Emergency Department (ED), accounting for approximately 5,4 % of all the visits, and up to 24 % of all the medical lawsuits. In order to provide a standardized method for wound management in the ED, we have organized a workshop, involving several Italian and European experts. Later, all the discussed statements have been submitted for external validation to a multidisciplinary expert team, based on the so called Delphi method. Eight main statements have been established, each of them comprising different issues, covering the fields of wound classification, infectious risk stratification, tetanus and rabies prophylaxis, wound cleansing, pain management, and suture. Here we present the results of this work, shared by the Academy of Emergency Medicine and Care (AcEMC), and the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES).

Highlights

Traumatic wounds are one of the most common problems leading people to the Emergency Department (ED), and account for approximately 5,4 % of all the visits [1, 2]
Definitions At the end of the work the panel and the referees have reached an agreement on the following definitions of traumatic wounds: Table 1 The questions submitted to the experts
Since it has been shown that only about 15 % of patients with traumatic wounds carry with them the documentation on their own tetanus immunization status, as noted by the vaccination status of patients prior to tetanus prophylaxis?

Summary

Introduction

One of the specific goals of the third European Union (EU) program in the health care area, years 2014–2020, is to improve access to a skilled, standardized and safe health care for EU citizens, improving the quality of health care and patient safety. According to these objectives we have organized a workshop aimed to share knowledge and experiences in the field of wound care, involving several Italian and European experts. Emergency Surgery (WSES) have decided to build, write and spread a multidisciplinary position statement on the management of traumatic wounds in the ED.

Methods

Results

Conclusions