Society guideline links: Chronic wound management

Introduction — This topic includes links to society and government-sponsored guidelines from selected countries and regions around the world. We will update these links periodically; newer versions of some guidelines may be available on each society's website. Some societies may require users to log in to access their guidelines.

The recommendations in the following guidelines may vary from those that appear in UpToDate topic reviews. Readers who are looking for UpToDate topic reviews should use the UpToDate search box to find the relevant content.

Links to related guidelines are provided separately. (See "Society guideline links: Minor wound management" and "Society guideline links: Pressure-induced skin and soft tissue injury".)

International

●Wounds International: Best practice recommendations – Prevention and management of moisture-associated skin damage (MASD) (2020)

●Wounds International: Best practice recommendations for holistic strategies to promote and maintain skin integrity (2020)

●Wounds International: International best practice recommendations for the early identification and prevention of surgical wound complications (2020)

●International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot (IWGDF): Guidelines on the prevention and management of diabetic foot disease (2019)

●National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP), European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP), and Pan Pacific Pressure Injury Alliance (PPPIA): Prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers/injuries – Clinical practice guideline, 3rd edition (2019)

●World Union of Wound Healing Societies (WUWHS): Consensus document on wound exudate, effective assessment and management (2019)

●Wounds International: Consensus document – Role of dressings in pressure ulcer prevention (2019)

●Wounds International: Incision care and dressing selection in surgical wounds – Findings from an international meeting of surgeons (2019)

●WUWHS: Position document for skin graft donor site management in the treatment of burns and hard-to-heal wounds (2019)

●Wounds International: Consensus round table meeting – Portable topical oxygen therapy for healing complex wounds (2018)

●Wounds International: Surgical wound dehiscence – Improving prevention and outcomes (2018)

●International Consolidated Venous Ulcer Guideline (ICVUG): Update of the Association of Advanced Wound Care (AAWC) venous ulcer guidelines, 2005 and 2010 (published 2015)

•AAWC: Pressure ulcer guidelines (2013)

●Wounds International: Principles of compression in venous disease – A practitioner's guide to treatment and prevention of venous leg ulcers (2013)

Canada

●Wounds Canada: Best practice recommendations

●Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI): Hospital harm improvement resource − Pressure ulcer (2016, updated 2021)

●Choosing Wisely Canada: Don't add extra layers of bedding (sheets, pads) beneath patients on therapeutic surfaces (updated 2020)

United States

●Wound Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society (WOCN): Venous, arterial, and neuropathic lower-extremity wounds − Clinical resource guide (2009, revised 2019)

●WOCN: 2016 guideline for prevention and management of pressure injuries (ulcers) − An executive summary (published 2017)

●Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA), and the Society for Vascular Medicine (SVM): A clinical practice guideline on the management of diabetic foot (2016)

●WOCN: 2014 guideline for management of wounds in patients with lower-extremity arterial disease (LEAD) – An executive summary (published 2016)

●Wound Healing Society (WHS): 2014 update on guidelines for arterial ulcers (published 2016)

●WHS: Guidelines for diabetic foot ulcer treatment, update (2016)

●WHS: Guidelines for pressure ulcers, 2015 update (published 2016)

●WHS: Guidelines for venous ulcers, 2015 update (published 2016)

●International Consolidated Venous Ulcer Guideline (ICVUG): Update of the Association of Advanced Wound Care (AAWC) venous ulcer guidelines, 2005 and 2010 (published 2015)

•AAWC: Pressure ulcer guidelines (2013)

●SVS and American Venous Forum (AVF): Clinical practice guidelines for the management of venous leg ulcers (2014)

Europe

●European Society for Vascular Surgery (ESVS): Clinical practice guidelines for the management of chronic venous disease (2015)

United Kingdom

●National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): Medical technologies guidance on 3C Patch for treating diabetic foot ulcers (2022)

●NICE: Guideline on leg ulcer infection – Antimicrobial prescribing (2020)

●NICE: Guideline on diabetic foot problems − Prevention and management (2015, updated 2019)

●NICE: Quality standard on pressure ulcers (2015)

●NICE: Clinical guideline on pressure ulcers − Prevention and management (2014)

Australia–New Zealand

●Choosing Wisely Australia: Do not take a swab or use antibiotics for the management of a leg ulcer without clinical infection (reviewed 2016)

Japan

●[In Japanese] Japan Dermatological Association (JDA): Wounds/pressure ulcers/burn injury guidelines – 1. Wounds in general (2017)

●[In Japanese] JDA: Wounds/pressure ulcers/burn injury guidelines – 2. Pressure ulcer practice guidelines (2017)

●[In Japanese] JDA: Wounds/pressure ulcers/burn injury guidelines – 3. Diabetic ulcer/gangrene guidelines (2017)

●[In Japanese] JDA: Wounds/pressure ulcers/burn injury guidelines – 4. Guidelines for clinical care for skin ulcer associated with collagen disease and vasculitis (2017)

●[In Japanese] JDA: Wounds/pressure ulcers/burn injury guidelines – 5. Guidelines for the management of lower leg ulcers/varicose veins (2017)

●[In English] Japanese Society of Pressure Ulcers (JSPU): Guidelines for the prevention and management of pressure ulcers, 4th edition (2016)

●[In English] JDA: The wound/burn guidelines − 1. Wounds in general (2016)

●[In English] JDA: The wound/burn guidelines − 2: Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment for pressure ulcers (2016)

●[In English] JDA: The wound/burn guidelines − 3: Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetic ulcer/gangrene (2016)

●[In English] JDA: The wound/burn guidelines – 4. Guidelines for the management of skin ulcers associated with connective tissue disease/vasculitis (2016)

●[In English] JDA: The wound/burn guidelines − 5. Guidelines for the management of lower leg ulcers/varicose veins (2016)

●[In Japanese] JSPU: Guidelines for the management of pressure ulcer, 4th edition (2015)