Infection assessment tools for acute and chronic wounds: a scoping review

To map the tools available in the literature for assessing wound infection.

This is a scoping review conducted from the Joana Briggs Institute Manual for Evidence Synthesis, in the databases of the Virtual Health Library, PubMed, Scopus, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature and the academic literature repository, Google Scholar. The research question was developed based on the acronym PCC (Population/Concept/Context), resulting in the following formulation: "Which tools available in the literature assess wound infections?"

The analysis included 32 wound infection assessment tools. Of these, 26 using clinical signs and symptoms of infection distributed across scales, checklists, classification systems, and completion forms were identified. In addition to these, 5 electronic devices and 01 software were identified.

The diversity of instruments highlights the complexity of wound infection management, emphasizing the need to discuss their applicability, benefits, and limitations to select the best evidence-based instrument.