Wound Management Plan for Osteoarthritis Patient

Nursing
Student’s name:
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WOUND MANAGEMENT PLAN
1. PRINCIPLE DIAGNOSIS OF THE PATIENT
The main problem which made David Pearson to seek for help from the hospital is
osteoarthritis which has troubled him for the past 10 years, he has history of hypertension
which developed 6years ago, he also has breathing difficulties at night which is relieved
when he sits up, he has polyuria, he goes to the toilet 12 times a day and twice during the
night which disturbs his night sleep. The main reason for admission to the hospital is
because of osteoarthritis which its intervention is total knee replacement (Caplan, & Kader,
2014).
2. EVALUATION OF WOUND MANAGEMENT PLAN
WOUND BED STATUS
Wound beds can be assessed for presence of granulation tissue which is red, fibrin sloughs
which is yellow .Dark red granulation is danger sing, it bleeds on contact and indicate the
presence of wound infection (Lozano-Platonoff, Mejía-Mendoza, Ibáñez-Doria, & Contreras-
Ruiz, 2015). Health granulation is pink in color. Leucocyte level increases at wound bed after
2-3 days specifically macrophages, macrophages help cleanse the wound. (Percival, Hill,
Williams, Hooper, Thomas, & Costerton, 2012).
FREQUENCY OF DRESSING
change of dressing is not done until sutures are removed 12-14 days following surgery.
Dressing should remain in place up to seven days from placement in theatres unless
dressing has moved out of place, it is fully saturated, if dressing is leaking, if there is
increase in pain or odor, increased discharge or foul smelling and if the surrounding skin has
become red or swollen
WOUND MEASUREMENT
A centimeter ruler is used to measure the length of the wound (Shetty, Sreekar, Lamba, &
Gupta, 2012). It should be done regularly so that wound size is determined and its progress
measured to show if its healing or deteriorating. Measurement is taken from open wound
edge to open wound age at longest point, the direction of the wound is from head to toe,
use a 7cm ruler to measure the width of the wound.
WOUND EXUDATE
Wound exudate is produced by the body in response to tissue damage. Wounds should
always be moist to prevent skin breakdown. Exudate that is milky or thick liquid that may
turn to yellow or brown is an indicator of infection which should be treated promptly by use
of antibiotics. Exudate contains proteins and variety of nutrients, growth factors and
enzymes which facilitates healing (Sherman, & Barkley, 2011). Exudate increases mostly