[Significance and assessments of impaired microcirculation in chronic wounds]

Chronic wounds pose a clinical challenge. Such wounds may present all over the body although the majority appear on the lower extremities. In the main, wounds are caused by hypertension (venous or arterial), diabetes, although infection, trauma, and animal bites can result in non-healing wounds. It is vital to have a reliable diagnosis in order to plan treatment. Despite advances in diagnostics and the development of standard care packages, chronic wounds present a growing burden to all societies. One of the problems faced is the poor understanding of the pathophysiology of wounds; it is commonly accepted that microcirculation is impaired in lower extremity chronic wounds. This paper is focused on the significance and assessment of impaired microcirculation.