Pain Dictionary

  1. A
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  26. Z
Secondary Intention
The process of healing in wounds with significant tissue loss e.g. leg ulcers, pressure ulcers. These wounds are left open due to the amount of tissue loss or because the wound edges cannot be brought into close apposition. These wounds heal mainly due to granulation and contraction in the proliferative phase of healing and take longer than wounds healing by primary intention.
Slough
The term for the viscous yellow layer which often covers the wound and is strongly adherent to it. Its presence can be related to the end of the inflammatory stage of healing when dead cells have accumulated in the exudate.
Species
A genus or family of bacteria, e.g. Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Sterilization
The use of physical procedures or chemical agents on non-living objects to destroy all microbial forms, including bacterial spores. The probability of surviving micro-organism should be < 10-6
Strain
A defined organism of a defined species of microorganisms. For instance, there is a MRSA outbreak and several different strains were isolated from each patient, however they all belong to the same species.
Strike-through
The point at which a liquid pathway is formed between the inner and outer surfaces of a dressing by the penetration of blood, exudate or tissue fluid.
Structural protein
See Extracellular matrix.