Symptoms

The symptom of the wound healing disorder is ultimately the non-healing wound itself. Depending on the form of the wound healing disorder, the edges of the wound may diverge (wound dehiscence), enclose an accumulation of blood (wound hematoma) or be dead and thus yellowish (wound margin necrosis). Due to inflammatory processes, the wound and sometimes its surroundings may be reddened, more rarely swollen, swollen, itchy or even painful.

Some wounds also moisten. If certain germs enter an open wound, other serious symptoms can develop that are no longer locally limited, for example fever. Another and much rarer form of wound healing disorder is the so-called keloid.

For unknown reasons, this leads to excessive scarring. Due to the overproduction of connective tissue, the wound grows over, but the resulting scar is extremely large and raised. Laser therapy is best suited to treat such scars.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of a wound healing disorder can usually be made by a physician as a gaze diagnosis. It is more difficult to find out the cause(s) of the wound healing disorder. To do this, the doctor first asks his patient exactly how the wound came about, how long it has existed and whether it has changed over time.

This collection of the medical history (anamnesis) is followed by an examination of the wound. The doctor looks at the wound closely and sees how far it has already healed (or not). If a causal underlying disease is suspected, further examinations may be useful, which then serve to diagnose this specific disease.

There are many different methods that can be used to treat a wound healing disorder.Which of these is ultimately selected depends above all on the condition of the wound, the patient as a whole (underlying diseases must always be included in the therapy planning!) and also on the patient’s ideas. First of all it is always important to clean the wound thoroughly.

This is preferably done with a so-called rinsing solution, which is normally either saline solution or a Ringer’s solution enriched with calcium and potassium ions. Irrigation is performed to remove any germs and foreign bodies that may have entered the wound, cell debris and dead tissue from the wound. In the long term, an antiseptic irrigation solution can also be used for wounds contaminated with germs.

If the irrigation does not yield sufficient results, the dead tissue can alternatively be removed surgically. The wound is then (re)sutured. Such a “debridement” should only be performed if good blood circulation of the tissue can be assumed.

Since wounds generally heal better when they are in a warm, moist environment, wounds are usually covered relatively generously with soaked compresses. Alternatively, special gels and foams can be used. It is important that the dressing is changed regularly, but not too often, as this could interrupt the healing process.

To further support this healing process, certain substances can be applied (e.g. hyaluronic acid) or taken (vitamins, coagulation-promoting drugs). In the context of the therapy of a wound healing disorder it is also very important to discover and also treat an underlying disease, otherwise the wound cannot heal properly despite the above mentioned measures. Contractubex® can be used for various types of scars, which are caused by wound healing disorders.

Wound healing disorders can result in atrophic scars (i.e. not enough connective tissue is formed) or hypertrophic scars (where too much connective tissue is formed). The early application of Contractubex®, directly after wound closure, can counteract such complications of wound healing disorders. It is available as a gel for massaging in or as an intensive patch for overnight application.