Main types of wounds in palliative care

Abstract

The palliative care concept has emphasized the sick person, including their and their family special needs and not just the compromised organ, the age of the patient or the type of illness in question. Wounds are a major problem at the end of life, affecting almost one third of the patients in palliative care, a fact aggravated by the difficulties in their management due to the patient's discomfort and the generally complex nature of these lesions. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to relate the main types of wounds present in the context of palliative care, in order to contribute with the understanding of this scenario and with the identification and development of appropriate measures for its management. This is a narrative literature review that covered the period between 1998 and 2018. The LILACS, SCIELO and PUBMED databases were used, using the descriptors "wound healing" and "palliative care", later specifically complemented for each lesion. The results were grouped and presented according to mechanisms and characteristics of each type of lesion, highlighting pressure lesions, suspected deep tissue injury and neoplastic wounds, among others. The information presented in this study was useful for a better understanding of the scenario involving wound in palliative care, as well as their identification, differentiation and management according to characteristics, limitations and specific needs. Descriptors: wound healing, palliative care.