UNLABELLED

In August 2008, the Medical Advisory Secretariat (MAS) presented a vignette to the Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee (OHTAC) on a proposed targeted health care delivery model for chronic care. The proposed model was defined as multidisciplinary, ambulatory, community-based care that bridged the gap between primary and tertiary care, and was intended for individuals with a chronic disease who were at risk of a hospital admission or emergency department visit. The goals of this care model were thought to include: the prevention of emergency department visits, a reduction in hospital admissions and re-admissions, facilitation of earlier hospital discharge, a reduction or delay in long-term care admissions, and an improvement in mortality and other disease-specific patient outcomes.OHTAC approved the development of an evidence-based assessment to determine the effectiveness of specialized community based care for the management of heart failure, Type 2 diabetes and chronic wounds.PLEASE VISIT THE MEDICAL ADVISORY SECRETARIAT WEB SITE AT: www.health.gov.on.ca/ohtas to review the following reports associated with the Specialized Multidisciplinary Community-Based care series.Specialized multidisciplinary community-based care series: a summary of evidence-based analysesCommunity-based care for the specialized management of heart failure: an evidence-based analysisCommunity-based care for chronic wound management: an evidence-based analysisPlease note that the evidence-based analysis of specialized community-based care for the management of diabetes titled: "Community-based care for the management of type 2 diabetes: an evidence-based analysis" has been published as part of the Diabetes Strategy Evidence Platform at this URL: http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/providers/program/mas/tech/ohtas/tech_diabetes_20091020.htmlPLEASE VISIT THE TORONTO HEALTH ECONOMICS AND TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT COLLABORATIVE WEB SITE AT: http://theta.utoronto.ca/papers/MAS_CHF_Clinics_Report.pdf to review the following economic project associated with this series:Community-based Care for the specialized management of heart failure: a cost-effectiveness and budget impact analysis.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this evidence-based review is to determine the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary wound care team for the management of chronic wounds.

CLINICAL NEED

CONDITION AND TARGET POPULATION Chronic wounds develop from various aetiologies including pressure, diabetes, venous pathology, and surgery. A pressure ulcer is defined as a localized injury to the skin/and or underlying tissue occurring most often over a bony prominence and caused, alone or in combination, by pressure, shear, or friction. Up to three fifths of venous leg ulcers are due to venous aetiology. Approximately 1.5 million Ontarians will sustain a pressure ulcer, 111,000 will develop a diabetic foot ulcer, and between 80,000 and 130,000 will develop a venous leg ulcer. Up to 65% of those afflicted by chronic leg ulcers report experiencing decreased quality of life, restricted mobility, anxiety, depression, and/or severe or continuous pain. MULTIDISCIPLINARY WOUND CARE TEAMS: The term 'multidisciplinary' refers to multiple disciplines on a team and 'interdisciplinary' to such a team functioning in a coordinated and collaborative manner. There is general consensus that a group of multidisciplinary professionals is necessary for optimum specialist management of chronic wounds stemming from all aetiologies. However, there is little evidence to guide the decision of which professionals might be needed form an optimal wound care team.

LITERATURE SEARCH

A literature search was performed on July 7, 2009 using OVID MEDLINE, MEDLINE In-Process and Other Non-Indexed Citations, OVID EMBASE, Wiley Cochrane, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination/International Agency for Health Technology Assessment, and on July 13, 2009 using the Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and the International Agency for Health Technology Assessment (INAHTA) for studies pertaining to leg and foot ulcers. A similar literature search was conducted on July 29' 2009 for studies pertaining to pressure ulcers. Abstracts were reviewed by a single reviewer and, for those studies meeting the eligibility criteria, full-text articles were obtained. Reference lists were also examined for any additional relevant studies not identified through the search. Articles with an unknown eligibility were reviewed with a second clinical epidemiologist and then a group of epidemiologists until consensus was established.

INCLUSION CRITERIA

Randomized controlled trials and Controlled clinical Trials (CCT)Systematic review with meta analysisPopulation includes persons with pressure ulcers (anywhere) and/or leg and foot ulcersThe intervention includes a multidisciplinary (two or more disciplines) wound care team.The control group does not receive care by a wound care teamStudies published in the English language between 2004 and 2009 EXCLUSION CRITERIA: Single centre retrospective observational studies

OUTCOMES OF INTEREST

Proportion of persons and/or wounds completely healedTime to complete healingQuality of LifePain assessment

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Two studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria, one a randomized controlled trial (RCT), the other a CCT using a before and after study design. There was variation in the setting, composition of the wound care team, outcome measures, and follow up periods between the studies. In both studies, however, the wound care team members received training in wound care management and followed a wound care management protocol. In the RCT, Vu et al. reported a non-significant difference between the proportion of wounds healed in 6 months using a univariate analysis (61.7% for treatment vs. 52.5% for control; p=0.074, RR=1.19) There was also a non-significant difference in the mean time to healing in days (82 for treatment vs. 101 for control; p=0.095). More persons in the intervention group had a Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) score equal to zero (better pain control) at 6 months when compared with the control group (38.6% for intervention vs. 24.4% for control; p=0.017, RR=1.58). By multivariate analysis a statistically significant hazard ratio was reported in the intervention group (1.73, 95% CI 1.20-1.50; p=0.003). In the CCT, Harrison et al. reported a statistically significant difference in healing rates between the pre (control) and post (intervention) phases of the study. Of patients in the pre phase, 23% had healed ulcers 3 months after study enrolment, whereas 56% were healed in the post phase (P<0.001, OR=4.17) (Figure 3). Furthermore, 27% of patients were treated daily or more often in the pre phase whereas only 6% were treated at this frequency in the post phase (P<0.001), equal to a 34% relative risk reduction in frequency of daily treatments. The authors did not report the results of pain relief assessment. The body of evidence was assessed using the GRADE methodology for 4 outcomes: proportion of wounds healed, proportion of persons with healed wounds, wound associated pain relief, and proportion of persons needing daily wound treatments. In general, the evidence was found to be low to very low quality.

CONCLUSION

The evidence supports that managing chronic wounds with a multidisciplinary wound care team significantly increases wound healing and reduces the severity of wound-associated pain and the required daily wound treatments compared to persons not managed by a wound care team. The quality of evidence supporting these outcomes is low to very low meaning that further research is very likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and is likely to change the estimate.

Care of equine wounds in the field can be a challenging endeavor. Many times, wound care is complicated by chronicity or by prior inappropriate care in addition to the great degree of tissue trauma that occurred when the horse was wounded. Recognizing involvement of synovial structures, loss of skin, and damage to bone are critical in the initial examination of wounds and will guide future care. Education of clients is also important in that preparing them for possible outcomes during healing may help improve compliance and proper treatment of wound. Owners and trainers often perform much of the daily care and monitoring of equine wounds and thus can greatly assist or impede the progress. Bandaging is important to management of equine wounds-especially on the limbs-and is sometimes overlooked because of its labor-intensive nature and the desire for a spray, ointment, or salve that will heal the wound. The practitioner that improves and utilizes his or her understanding of the wound-healing process in concert with his or her knowledge of local anatomy will be the one who is best equipped to care for wounds in ambulatory practice.

Skin tears are common injuries that result from mechanical forces. Older people with fragile skin are at greater risk of this type of wound. They are usually categorised as acute wounds that typically heal in 7-21 days but the healing process can be disrupted, leading to chronic, non-healing wounds. They have the potential to compromise quality of life and disrupt daily activities, so it is important to identify risk factors and implement prevention strategies for those at risk. An interdisciplinary approach has a pivotal role in promptly and precisely identifying skin tears, and the use of evidence-based interventions for efficient skin damage management can enhance the recovery process. This article adopts a case study approach to explore the prevention, evaluation and treatment of skin tears, using the case of an individual living with a skin tear in a community setting.

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