Pressure ulcers are the most frequent wound aetiologies requiring a palliative wound care approach ::results of an international survey

In December 2023, EWMA distributed an online survey to its members and to members of co-operating organisations to determine from them the type of wounds they encounter requiring a palliative approach and their priorities for research. In all 513 people completed the survey, including 333 nurses and 102 doctors. Respondents had a high level of education in wound management and encountered patients with chronic wounds and non-healable wounds on a daily or weekly basis. The most frequent wound aetiology requiring a palliative approach was pressure ulcers (n=306) followed by malignant fungating wounds (n=270). The majority of these woulds were described as ulcerated (n=407) followed by fungating (n=211). A series of free text questions were asked and over 450 responses were provided for each. Pain, odour and exudate management were ranked in the top three concerns for patients, clinicians and for research priority setting. Other factors, such as infection control and patient-centered approaches, ranked highly.