Safe debridement in the community

Identifying the wounds 

that need debridement/

debridement assessment

Any assessment should be systematic 

and comprehensive. Th e patient’s 

underlying medical conditions and 

current state of health should be 

determined. Th e presence of any 

localised or systemic infection should 

be diagnosed along with issues such 

as peripheral arterial disease, which 

would complicate and even preclude 

debridement wounds of the lower 

limb. Th e assessment may result in the 

correction or alleviation of the factors 

responsible for the necrotic wound 

(Benbow, 2011a,b).

In certain circumstances, the function 

of debridement is symptom control, 

for example, in individuals with 

malignant wounds in a palliative care 

setting. Wound healing is not usually 

the aim of wound management for 

people with malignant wounds and 

debridement of the non-viable tissue 

TRUDIE YOUNG

Tissue Viability Nurse (Hon) 

Aneurin Bevan Health Board Wales

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Wounds Essentials 2012, Vol 2

It is widely accepted that wound debridement is necessary 

for optimal wound healing (Haycocks and Chadwick, 2012). 

Debridement has become an accepted part of wound bed 

preparation with the ultimate aim of achieving a clean, 

healthy, granulating wound bed (Benbow, 2011a,b). Th is 

article examines the way in which debridement can be 

conducted safely in the community setting.

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