title: Choosing the optimal wound dressing for irradiated soft tissue wounds.
abstract: This article reviews the healing state of the previously irradiated wound, the tenets for optimal wound care, and the choices of wound dressings now available for its management. The goal in assisting a previously irradiated surgical wound to heal is to transform its chronic wound state into an acute wound state. This transformation encourages wound healing to proceed. Six major moisture-retentive dressing categories exist to optimize its healing. They are classified into the alginates, foams, gauzes, hydrogels, hydrocolloids, and transparent films. Optimal wound care management for previously irradiated wounds involves (1) adequately debriding and cleansing the local wound, (2) accurately assessing the wound, (3) choosing the appropriate dressing based on the wound assessment, and (4) encouraging granulation tissue formation and reepithelialization.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis 55455, USA.
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Hom
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koreis
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maisel
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001458:Bandages; D003646:Debridement; D006097:Granulation Tissue / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000528:radiation effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011855:Radiodermatitis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*