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A chronic wound is a wound that does not heal in an orderly set of stages and in a predictable amount of time the way most wounds do; wounds that do not heal within three months are often considered chronic.〔 〕 Chronic wounds seem to be detained in one or more of the phases of wound healing. For example, chronic wounds often remain in the inflammatory stage for too long. In acute wounds, there is a precise balance between production and degradation of molecules such as collagen; in chronic wounds this balance is lost and degradation plays too large a role. Chronic wounds may never heal or may take years to do so. These wounds cause patients severe emotional and physical stress and create a significant financial burden on patients and the whole healthcare system. Acute and chronic wounds are at opposite ends of a spectrum of wound healing types that progress toward being healed at different rates. ==Signs and symptoms== Chronic wound patients often report pain as dominant in their lives. It is recommended that healthcare providers handle the pain related to chronic wounds as one of the main priorities in chronic wound management (together with addressing the cause). Six out of ten venous leg ulcer patients experience pain with their ulcer, and similar trends are observed for other chronic wounds. Persistent pain (at night, at rest, and with activity) is the main problem for patients with chronic ulcers. Frustrations regarding ineffective analgesics and plans of care that they were unable to adhere to were also identified. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Chronic wound」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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