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How do wounds heal after debridement?

Debridement often removes a large amount of skin from an area. Wounds with a large amount of skin removed almost always heal by a process called “secondary intention.” This is a medical term that refers to healing that occurs from the bottom of a wound and moves upwards. There are several key steps to this process. 

  • Hemostasis: First, the body stops any bleeding in the area using the clotting system within the blood.
  • Inflammation: Second, white blood cells move into the area and remove any bacteria and contamination. This step is significantly sped up by irrigation. 
  • Proliferation: This step is where the beefy-red granulation tissue begins to fill the wound and replace the missing skin.
  • Remodeling: FInally, after the wound is filled, the granulation tissue becomes stiffer, shrinks, pulls the wound together, and stimulates skin cells to cover the surface. 

Each type of skin debridement is intended to help this process along. Your doctor will regularly check how your wound is healing and take steps to ensure that the process of healing is both moving along effectively and as quickly as possible!

What is skin debridement?

What are the different types of skin debridement?

How do you know if a wound needs skin debridement?

What happens during a skin debridement procedure?

When should a wound not be debrided?

How long does it take for skin to heal after debridement?

* Savings estimate based on a study of more than 1 billion claims comparing self-pay (or cash pay) prices of a frequency-weighted market basket of procedures to insurer-negotiated rates for the same. Claims were collected between July 2017 and July 2019. R.Lawrence Van Horn, Arthur Laffer, Robert L.Metcalf. 2019. The Transformative Potential for Price Transparency in Healthcare: Benefits for Consumers and Providers. Health Management Policy and Innovation, Volume 4, Issue 3.

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Your actual costs may be higher or lower than these cost estimates. Check with your provider and health plan details to confirm the costs that you may be charged for a service or procedure.You are responsible for costs that are not covered and for getting any pre-authorizations or referrals required by your health plan. Neither payments nor benefits are guaranteed. Provider data, including price data, provided in part by Turquoise Health.

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