Medicine: general issues
May 2014
Wunddokumentation und Wundfotografie: Grundlagen und praktische Umsetzung
by Reinboth, Christian
More than 4,5 million Germans (more than 4,5% of the population) are currently suffering from chronic wounds or injuries, which, for different reasons, are not healing or are healing very slowly, which has a detrimental effect on the quality of life for the affected people. The necessary long/time care costs the health care system more than 5 billion Euros. Suffering and costs which will grow exponentially in the next years due to demographic change: For the coming 25 years alone, the prognosis is a doubling of the number of affected people to more than 9 million Germans , with the population simultaneously decreasing to under 80 million. This book deals with the question of how chronic wounds are to be documented in written and photographic form, and which parameters need to be considered. It presents the three most common types of wounds and explains the need for documentation. Measuring procedures, which help categorize the severity of the illness, are explained, while properties of wounds and the challenges they pose to wound care are also studied, along with methods of documentation for these properties. Finally, the book critically discusses photographic wound documentation and gives helpful advice for affected people concerning their diet and wound prevention.
