CHT Wound Care & Edema Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which characteristic best describes inflammatory edema following acute hand trauma?
- Non-pitting, firm, and unresponsive to treatment
- Pitting, warm, and typically responsive to elevation and compression (Correct answer)
- Hard, fibrotic, and brawny in texture
- Associated with coolness and pallor of the digits
Correct answer: Pitting, warm, and typically responsive to elevation and compression
Acute inflammatory edema is typically pitting, accompanied by warmth and erythema, and responds well to elevation and compression in early stages.
Question 2: Intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) is contraindicated in patients with which condition?
- Chronic lymphedema of the hand
- Post-fracture edema at 6 weeks
- Deep vein thrombosis (Correct answer)
- Mild post-surgical swelling
Correct answer: Deep vein thrombosis
IPC is contraindicated with deep vein thrombosis because applying external pressure could dislodge a clot and cause a life-threatening pulmonary embolism.
Question 3: The figure-8 measurement method for edema assessment is used to measure swelling in which region?
- Individual digits only
- The wrist and hand (Correct answer)
- The forearm
- The shoulder and upper arm
Correct answer: The wrist and hand
The figure-8 method uses a tape measure in a specific crossing pattern around the wrist and hand to provide a reliable, reproducible edema measurement.
Question 4: Which principle guides the pressure gradient in therapeutic compression garments for edema control?
- Greater pressure proximally, less distally
- Equal pressure throughout the garment
- Greater pressure distally, decreasing proximally (Correct answer)
- Pressure applied only at joint levels
Correct answer: Greater pressure distally, decreasing proximally
Graduated compression applies the greatest pressure distally and decreases proximally to assist fluid movement toward lymphatic drainage sites near the trunk.
Question 5: Moist wound healing, compared to dry wound healing, has been shown to:
- Significantly increase infection risk
- Slow epithelialization
- Accelerate epithelialization and reduce wound pain (Correct answer)
- Increase hypertrophic scar formation
Correct answer: Accelerate epithelialization and reduce wound pain
Research consistently demonstrates that moist wound healing accelerates epithelialization, reduces wound pain, and improves overall healing outcomes compared to dry wound management.
Question 6: When assessing wound healing progress, which observation indicates the wound is in the proliferative phase?
- Presence of yellow fibrinous slough throughout the wound bed
- Bright red, moist granulation tissue filling the wound bed (Correct answer)
- Firm dark eschar covering the wound surface
- Increasing wound size and depth over time
Correct answer: Bright red, moist granulation tissue filling the wound bed
Bright red, moist granulation tissue indicates active proliferation with angiogenesis and collagen deposition, which is characteristic of the proliferative healing phase.
Question 7: What is the primary purpose of a non-adherent wound contact layer in a dressing system?
- To absorb large amounts of wound exudate
- To prevent the dressing from sticking to the wound bed and causing trauma on removal (Correct answer)
- To provide therapeutic compression to the wound
- To chemically debride necrotic tissue
Correct answer: To prevent the dressing from sticking to the wound bed and causing trauma on removal
Non-adherent contact layers protect the wound bed by preventing adherence, which would cause pain and tissue trauma upon dressing removal and disrupt healing.
CHT Wound Care & Edema Management 2
Which characteristic best describes inflammatory edema following acute hand trauma?