Wound Care Practice, 2nd edition

Editors: Paul J. Sheffield, PhD and Caroline E. Fife, MD,      Best Publishing Company; Flagstaff, AZ: 2007      Dr. Paul Sheffield and Dr. Caroline Fife have produced a monumental work with Wound Care Practice, 2nd edition. The first edition was slightly more than 800 pages, but this edition has been expanded to more than 1200 pages in 2 volumes.      The second edition of Wound Care Practice covers the entire spectrum of wound care and can be used as both a textbook and reference book for all wound care clinicians. Each topic is covered in detail, and the references for each chapter are sufficient should further reading be necessary.      The volumes are divided into 6 sections. Each section deals with various aspects of wound care practice. Section 1 addresses problem wounds and includes an extensive and informative chapter on the biochemistry of wound healing. Section 2 deals with wound assessment, while Section 3 covers wound management. Chapters on wound healing among the elderly and young are included. Preventative care, an often overlooked topic, is also addressed in this section. Section 4 covers systemic issues in wound care, pain management, and infection including an excellent chapter on biofilms, dressings, and adjunctive therapies. Section 5 helps the wound care clinician address the needs of the patient as a person, and not just a wound. Legalities and ethical aspects of wound care are also covered in this section. Section 6, the final section, addresses delivery of care from starting a wound center to documentation to coding. The chapter on latex allergy might be considered unusual in a wound care text, but is an issue many wound care clinicians face on a regular basis.      Knowing the editors’ interest in hyperbaric medicine, the emphasis on this therapy is not unexpected nor does it detract from the value of the book. Some overlap exists with multiple authors covering basic aspects of wound care. Unfortunately, some case descriptions in the book still recommend wet-to-dry dressings. Anyone authoring a chapter in this book should have known better.      Interestingly, neither the chapter on pediatric wounds nor any other chapter mentions intravenous infiltration wounds in children or adults. Patients with these injuries (either from therapeutic or illegal drug injections) are seen on a regular basis in our wound center. Considering the emphasis being placed on the use of growth factor therapy and skin substitutes, it is surprising that there is only one brief chapter that deals, albeit superficially, with the subject. A chapter on the future of wound care would have been beneficial. Currently, there is considerable research being done on gene analysis and gene therapy related to wound care. What does the future hold for these therapies?      This is a very good book, which I highly recommend to any wound care clinician looking to increase their wound care knowledge. As a reference tool, it is an excellent source of new information or it can serve as a refresher on forgotten facets of appropriate care. Terry Treadwell, MD, FACS Medical Director Institute for Advanced Wound Care Montgomery, AL