Jwc ewma final indd

Table1.Targetsofdebridement

To summarise, we understand debridement as 

an integrated part of the management of an 

individual with a wound, achieving certain goals 

and, thus, creating a healthy wound bed, edges and 

peri-wound skin, with the objective of promoting 

and accelerating healing. The indication for 

debridement and choice of technique does not 

relate to the diagnoses of the wound but to the 

defi nition of certain tissue types covering the 

wound, as well as their state of humidity and 

relevant factors related to the patient situation.

Method

The methodology of this document comprises 

of a general literature review with the addition 

of the authors’ clinical expertise. The objective 

is to provide an updated overview with regard 

to debridement and its methods together with a 

suggestion for an overall clinical algorithm which 

defi nes the why, when and how of debridement. 

Thus, this paper is not purely evidence based or 

evaluating existing products, as this would lead to a 

compromise with the primary objective: To describe 

the substantial amount of available debridement 

technologies, which all have potential advantages 

and limitations related to the various wound types 

and treatment settings.

The literature search strategy was instigated to 

allow for the identifi cation of a broad range of 

methods and results of using different techniques 

in the debridement of wounds. Three databases 

were searched: Medline, Embase and the Cochrane 

Database. The search was conducted in December 

2011 and search terms used are listed in Appendix 1. 

The authors responsible for the various sections 

of the document selected the relevant literature to 

include in their sections, based primarily on the 

literature identifi ed in the database search. Literature 

used includes debridement studies of various types: 

Reviews, randomised controlled studies (RCTs), 

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