Abstract
Acute and chronic wounds are not determined by time alone. Acute wounds normally proceed through an ordered and timely reparative process, resulting in the sustained restoration of anatomic and functional integrity, while chronic wounds do not follow such a process. Orderliness is a sequence of biological events including the control of infection, resolution of inflammation, angiogenesis, regeneration of a functional connective tissue matrix, contraction, resurfacing differentiation, and remodeling. Chronic wounds comprise venous, diabetic, arterial, and pressure ulcers, and guidelines for the treatment and prevention of such chronic ulcers as well as the eleven impeding factors for the systemic and local treatment of acute wounds have been proposed. Thus, a clarified definition of either acute or chronic wounds has not yet been elucidated. The transition between acute and chronic wounds should also be investigated further.
