Optimal wound care management in hidradenitis suppurativa

Introduction: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) presents the problem of a chronic, relapsing, painful, draining wound. There is a myriad of HS wound care management strategies implemented by clinicians and patients centered around which dressings to use. Many factors affect which HS wound care dressing is the most appropriate to use such as the type of HS wound, cost, ease of application, patient comfort, absorbency and odor management among many others. Aim: In this work, the authors aim to prepare a set of guidelines for optimal HS wound care dressing use based on a tier system, ideal characteristics of HS dressings and the type of HS lesion. The dressing recommendations focus on cost-effectiveness for patients, ease of accessibility and ultimately, improvement in the quality of life of patients suffering from HS. Methods: PubMed was utilized to search the terms ‘wound care + HS’; ‘non-surgical wound care + HS’; ‘optimal wound care + HS’; ‘HS wounds’; and ‘optimal wound dressings’. Results: Silver-impregnated foam is considered the most optimal HS wound care dressing because it contains nearly all characteristics of an ideal wound care dressing. Conclusion: However, silver-impreganted foam is expensive and difficult to access for patients, so lower-tier HS wound care dressings must be considered prior to utilizing this tier 4 dressing.