[Management of malignant wounds]

[Importance of biopsy in the diagnostic assessment of chronic wounds-position paper of the Initiative Chronische Wunden (ICW) e. V.]

Diagnostic assessment of chronic wounds is essential for the initiation of causal therapeutic treatment. For diagnostic classification of the wound genesis, it may be necessary to take a tissue sample for histological and/or microbiological processing. If there is clinical suspicion of a specific cause of the wound such as a neoplasm, an inflammatory dermatosis or a pathogen-induced wound, a tissue sample for further diagnosis is required immediately. If the ulceration does not respond sufficiently to adequate causal therapy, a tissue sample for further evaluation is recommended after 12 weeks. The choice of the correct sampling technique, further storage, transport and processing are just as decisive for a reliable result as the specific question for the diagnostic laboratory.

[Wound treatment without curative intention: position paper of the Initiative Chronische Wunden (ICW) e. V.]

Today, patients with chronic wounds are treated in many different fields of medicine. Despite this great interdisciplinary and interprofessional importance, there is still a lack of uniformly accepted definitions and classifications. Therefore, a group of experts from the professional society Initiative Chronische Wunden (ICW) e. V. translated and adapted the classification of chronic wounds into healable, maintenance and nonhealable wounds on the basis of the internationally published literature into German. This classification results in the aim of curative, limited respectively non-curative or palliative wound care, which are very important for everyday clinical practice. It thus becomes clear that complete wound closure is not always the central intention of wound treatment. For many patients with chronic wounds, other aspects such as the best possible quality of life and the promotion of health-related self-management as well as the avoidance of complications are important for treatment concepts. These therapy intentions should be differentiated and individually discussed with patients in order to facilitate shared decision making.