Caustic substances can inflict severe damage on tissues upon contact. Knowledge about skin damage caused by sodium hypochlorite is quite limited, with only a few reports available in the literature.

Chronic hard-to-heal wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers, and pressure ulcers, present significant safety concerns, patient burdens, and challenges to health care systems globally.

The Wound Care Collaborative Community (WCCC) assesses shortcomings and unmet needs in wound care by partnering with key stakeholders, such as the National Institutes of Health, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), industry leaders, and expert health care providers and researchers, to advance the study of wound healing. Through this work, the WCCC has identified a few key barriers to innovation in wound care. The WCCC aims to accelerate the development of science-based, patient-centered solutions and address public policy challenges related to ensuring patients receive early access to innovative treatment options.

Evidence-based medicine and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are helpful tools in the wound care field, but few studies correlating quality of life (QoL) changes with objective changes exist.

Achievement of moisture balance can be a critical factor affecting time to closure of nonhealing wounds, and dry wounds can take much longer to heal than those with high exudate levels. Whether the goal of management is to donate moisture to the wound or control excessive fluid until the cause has been identified and addressed, choice of dressing and other wound management products can affect nursing resources, clinical outcomes, concordance, and quality of life for the patient.

Deep tissue injury (DTI), a pressure-related injury to the subcutaneous tissue under intact skin, has been featured in several recent studies. DTI is hard to detect, and by the time the injury becomes visible, extensive injury to the underlying tissue has often already occurred, resulting in a potentially serious and difficult-to-heal full-thickness pressure injury. Thus, early detection of subcutaneous injuries is essential, and previous reports describe the use of ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for this purpose. The current report compares ultrasonography with MRI for detection of subcutaneous injuries.

There is limited use of the term skin failure in the clinical setting; however, it is valid to question the differences between skin failure and other injuries (eg, pressure injuries). The evaluation of skin failure should be based on specific clinical characteristics to strengthen the knowledge of this phenomenon and to set standards of care.

The Wound Care Collaborative Community (WCCC) aims to assess current usable real-world data (RWD) sources to determine which real-world databases (DBs) are suitable and usable for studying the natural history of chronic wounds. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) do not fully reflect the complexity of patients with chronic wounds. Using RWD, establishment of a scientifically grounded "road map" for RCTs is needed to better navigate the real-world complexity of the patients with chronic wounds. The long-term objectives include identifying patients ineligible to receive evidence-based advanced treatment and diagnostic options, reducing patient suffering, and providing decision support for regulatory bodies, payers, and clinicians.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) periprosthetic infections after breast augmentation procedures are increasingly common worldwide and should raise suspicion after empirical antimicrobial therapy fails but clinical signs of infection persist. In this case experience, the authors suggest the use of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) for NTM-infected wounds to obtain a faster periprosthetic space closure, shorten healing time, and anticipate breast reimplantation.

Use of negative pressure wound therapy with instillation and dwell time (NPWTi-d) of a topical wound solution has been limited in some settings due to perceptions of setup complexity. Typically, some guesswork was needed to estimate an adequate volume of solution to instill without causing leaks. A novel smart technology is recently available in certain NPWTi-d systems that automatically estimates and instills a solution volume according to wound dimensions.

Surgical site infection (SSI) is a potential complication of spine surgery and a significant cause of readmission and surgical revision. Furthermore, the presence of comorbidities, along with the rising frequency of spinal surgeries, may result in secondary infections, thereby elevating the risk of these infections and affecting overall health.

Wound debridement is crucial for effective wound management and essential for removing necrotic tissue, reducing bacterial load, and encouraging granulation. While surgical debridement is prevalent, it can be traumatic and can potentially delay healing by enlarging the wound area.

Skin and soft tissue infections are commonly encountered in clinical practice, and they are typically responsive to antibiotics and drainage. In most cases, cellulitis can be diagnosed via physical examination by a health care professional, based on the typical appearance of the skin and on symptoms such as redness, swelling, warmth, and pain. However, persistent cellulitis or nonresolving abscesses may require in-depth evaluation. When encountering refractory skin and soft tissue infections, clinicians should consider factors such as nontuberculous mycobacterial infection, underlying osteomyelitis, foreign bodies, and malignancy, among other factors.

Chronic or hard-to-heal wounds fail to proceed through an orderly and timely healing process, resulting in a lack of anatomic and functional integrity. Infection is a common driver of nonhealing processes; therefore, infection prevention and management are essential components to healing chronic wounds. Inexpensive specialized cleansers, such as pure hypochlorous acid (pHA), can be used to cleanse vulnerable wounds to reduce microbial burden, thereby reducing the risk of infection and significantly decreasing the likelihood of the patient developing a costly wound complication.

With the increase in lithium-ion battery-powered technology, clinicians have observed an increase in burn injuries. Typically, these injuries come from malfunctions in e-cigarettes, e-scooters and bikes, and even mobile phones. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported case of a patient burned by the lithium-ion battery pack on an electric sock, which is commonly worn by skiers, snowboarders, and winter hikers.

Peristomal pyoderma gangrenosum (PPG) is a critical complication after surgical ileostomy or colostomy placement. While topical treatments are often effective, most of the available vehicles reduce ostomy pouch adhesion. There are no commercially available corticosteroid powders for topical application; however, using powder from crushed corticosteroid tablets or capsules may circumvent this issue.

Calciphylaxis is a rare and life-threatening condition characterized by cutaneous necrosis resulting from vessel calcification and thrombosis. Commonly associated with end-stage renal disease and hyperparathyroidism, calciphylaxis presents as retiform purpura evolving into necrotic eschars.

Exposed cranial bone can present a considerable challenge to the reconstructive surgeon. Removal of the outer cortex of exposed skull bone has proven effective in the management of complex scalp wounds for which traditional reconstruction efforts were limited.

Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has significantly transformed wound care, particularly the management of complex injuries and unresponsive wounds. Crush injuries from road traffic accidents pose intricate challenges due to their severity, often requiring multimodal interventions. NPWT accelerates healing by stimulating tissue formation and reducing inflammation; however, its use necessitates careful patient selection and wound assessment for potential complications.

Enteroatmospheric fistula (EAF) is an abnormal communication between the gastrointestinal tract and the atmosphere. This phenomenon is still considered one of the most significant challenges faced by general surgeons after abdominal surgery. Primary goals of managing EAF include controlling and diverting intestinal contents outside the abdominal cavity, protecting surrounding tissues from retraction, and promoting wound healing. Achieving these goals is not easy. EAF has a 40% mortality rate. Several techniques have been proposed for managing this problem, including negative pressure wound therapy. The use of bladder catheters, nipples, endoscopic stents, vascular grafts, and fistula funnel, among other options, in the management of EAF has also been described.

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare skin condition that is challenging for both patients and physicians alike. It is extremely painful and can become debilitating for many patients. PG has a mortality rate of 16% at 8 years, and patients with PG have a threefold risk of death compared to the general population. Currently, the management of PG is not standardized and is somewhat experimental as these wounds are prone to pathergy.