Managing exudate and maceration in venous leg ulceration within the acute health setting

Exudate has beneficial effects in normal wound healing but detrimental consequences for chronic wounds. Practitioners need to identify and treat its cause, and manage the exudate and prevent if from damaging periwound skin. Management involves dressings of the most appropriate absorbency and other products, and avoiding maceration of periwound skin; compression therapy is the gold standard treatment for treating oedema and venous leg ulceration. Nurses in acute settings may not have the skills to implement or maintain compression therapy; this article is intended for nurses who may have to manage these patients temporarily while they are admitted to secondary care and may not have the skills.