Holistic management of wound related pain

Project period: 2021–ongoing

The objective of this project is to outline best practice on the following crucial elements in a successful management of wound pain:

• Overview of wound pain and its causes;
• Holistic assessment of the patient in pain and its documentation;
• Identification and evaluation of strategies that may reduce pain during wound care procedures (for example, dressing removal and wound cleansing);
• Considerations concerning local factors that may cause wound related pain; 
• Selection of dressings that can contribute to pain alleviation (atraumatic, pain-free removal, etc.).

The project will be based on collection and assessment of the most recent empirical research on wound related pain that is available. 

One-page Guidance: Holistic Management of Wound-Related Pain

Based on the EWMA Document: 'Holistic Management of Wound-Related Pain' (expected publication May 2023), an one-page clinical guidance including a decision-aid to support the holistic management of wound-related pain has been published.

Read and download for free.

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Working group

• Samantha Holloway (chair), United Kingdom
  Reader and Programme Director, (MSc in Wound Healing and Tissue Repair) Centre for Medical Education, School of Medicine, College of Life and Biomedical Sciences at the Cardiff University, EWMA Council member and Chair of EWMA Education Committee and Teacher Network
   
• Kirsti Ahmajärvi
  MD (GP), Communal home care unit, City of Järvenpää, Central Uusimaa Region, Finland. EPUAP Trustee and board member in the Finnish Wound Care Society
   
• Nicoletta Frescos, Australia
  Lecturer and clinical educator at La Trobe University, Victoria; Clinical Research coordinator and podiatry wound consultant at the Austin Health Wound Clinic; Health adviser for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, Australia
   
• Sue Jenkins, United Kingdom
  Senior Lecturer and Programme Director for four MSc programmes (including MSc in Pain Management), Centre for Medical Education, School of Medicine in Cardiff University, member of the British Pain Society's Pain Education Committee and their Pain Education Special Interest Group
   
• Andrea Pokorná, Czech Republic
  Associate Professor of Nursing and a specialized international coordinator for the Department of Nursing at Masaryk University (Faculty of Medicine). EWMA Council Member and member of the EWMA Education Committee
   
• Alisha Oropallo, United States of America
  Director of the Comprehensive Wound Healing Center at Northwell Health and associate Professor at Zucker Hofstra School of Medicine and Feinstein Institutes of Medical Research, New York, AAWC board member.
   

• Patricia Price (reviewer), United Kingdom
  Professor, Professor of Burn Injury Research. Centre for Global Burn Injury Policy and Research, Swansea University and Emeritus Professor, Cardiff University

Project support

EWMA sincerely thanks the following companies for unrestricted grants provided in support of this project.