Evidence-Based Wound Care Guidelines and Fecal Ostomy Best Practice

The Evidence-Based Wound Care Guidelines and Fecal Ostomy Best Practice provides up-to-date recommendations for patients with pressure ulcers, fecal ostomies, lower extremity arterial disease (LEAD), lower extremity neuropathic disease (LEND), and lower extremity venous disease (LEVD).

View the differential assessment algorithm or image library to help you assess patients. Read the quick-reference guide, then view details with extended guidelines and tools.

The app includes:

Pressure Ulcers: This guideline provides consistent, evidence-based information about pressure ulcers, as well as an overview covering the background, significance and physiological aspects of pressure ulcers. Also presented is the etiology of pressure ulcers, overall management goals, and recommendations for prevention and treatment. Guideline includes an algorithm to determine wound etiology, a comprehensive glossary, and several appendices with tools for managing pressure ulcers.

Fecal Ostomy: This clinical best practice includes types of ostomies, stoma site marking, patient education, pouching options and management, and quality of life for patients. This clinical practice guideline is intended for use by physicians, nurses, therapists and other health care professionals who work with people who will undergo or have undergone a procedure that results in a fecal ostomy.

LEAD: Updated in 2014, this clinical practice guideline is intended for use by physicians, nurses, therapists and other healthcare professionals working with adults who have (or are at risk) for wounds due to lower-extremity arterial disease (LEAD). The guideline is meant to support clinical practice. The overall goal is to provide research-based information that will improve cost-effective patient outcomes and stimulate increased wound research. It was based on the best available evidence at the time it was written.

LEND: This guideline will promote evidence-based assessment, prevention, and management strategies for neuropathic patients, including the millions of patients with diabetes and a myriad of other primary diagnoses. It also provides a strong impetus for education, offers a framework for future research, and supports evidence-based clinical practice to improve quality of life for patients and cost effective outcomes for health systems.

LEVD: Updated in 2011, these evidence-based recommendations for prevention and treatment in this growing population are geared toward health care professionals who direct, provide, or specialize in wound care for patients with LEVD.