Association for the Advancement of Wound Care
Ostomy Wound Management. Date of publication 2018 Apr 4;volume 64(4 April 2018):.
Approximately 2.5 million patients are affected by pressure ulcers (PrU), and each year 60 000 of them die from these ulcers. PrU represent the second-most common hospital billing claim. Among Medicare beneficiaries, PrU add $43 000 to each hospital stay. Thus, PrU represent a high burden not only in terms of suffering, but also with respect to costs. Despite the establishment and implementation of prevention guidelines, PrU continue to occur. Moreover, management is hampered by variations in the descriptions of PrU, with poor reliability between observers.
On February 9–10, 2018, the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC), along with several partner organizations, held the first annual AAWC Pressure Ulcer Summit in Atlanta, Georgia. This Summit brought together an international forum of leaders in wound care and PrU prevention and management to better define pressure-related tissue damage and wounds, assess the state of the science, and identify research opportunities, with an emphasis on clinical implementation of the evidence. Ultimately, the AAWC PrU Summit aims to begin a collaborative effort to provide clarity for health care providers and benefit patients. To that end, the following organizations were active participants in the Summit: Academy of Clinical Electrophysiology and Wound Management (ACEWM), American College of Clinical Wound Specialists (ACCWS), American College of Hyperbaric Medicine (ACHM), American Geriatrics Society (AGS), American Professional Wound Care Association (APWCA), Canadian Association of Wound Care (CAWC), Colegio de Profesionales de la Enfermeria de Puerto Rico (CPEPR), European Wound Management Association (EWMA), International Inter-Professional Wound Care Group (IIWCG), Mexican Association for Skin Care and Wound Healing (AMCICHAC), Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (AMDA), and Wound Healing Society (WHS). This is a summary of the proceedings from this Summit. Each presentation is summarized, and resources and discussion points follow. These proceedings will be incorporated into a white paper to be published in the near future.
