The chronic wound pain experience: a conceptual model

Chronic wound pain is experienced to a greater or lesser degree with most types of chronic wounds, yet research to date on this subject has been extremely limited. This article presents an empirically and inductively derived model, including a theoretical definition of the chronic wound pain experience (CWPE) and its subcomponents (noncyclic acute wound pain, cyclic acute wound pain and chronic wound pain). The model relates the CWPE to the nursing process and to nursing diagnoses and proposes intervention schemes to optimize patient outcomes. Avenues for future research are delineated.