Objective: To discover the incidence of pain in patients with acute or chronic wounds of various
causes during dressing removal, and the effect of switching to a non-adherent dressing.
l Method: A total of 656 primary care physicians reported the relevant details of all acute or chronic
wounds observed during routine visits throughout the study period. The pain experienced during
dressing changes was systematically evaluated. In patients with moderate to severe pain, a more
extensive evaluation was performed and they were invited to complete a self-evaluation questionnaire.
If the patients were seen at a subsequent visit, a new evaluation was performed.
l Results: In total 5850 patients were seen: 2914 with acute wounds and 2936 with chronic wounds.
During dressing changes, a similar number of patients with acute and chronic wounds reported
‘moderate to severe’ pain during the medical screening visit (79.9% and 79.7%) and ‘very severe’ pain in
their self-evaluation questionnaire completed at home (47% and 59% respectively). Dressing removal
was most painful when there was adherence to the wound bed. Switching to a new, non-adherent
dressing reduced pain during dressing changes in 88% of patients with chronic wounds and 95% of
patients with acute wounds.
l Conclusion: This study demonstrates that similar problems with patient acceptability arise
irrespective of wound aetiology. Pain is a major problem and is most often related to dressing selection.
Selecting a suitable, non-adherent dressing improves patient acceptability.
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