Current and advanced therapies for chronic wound infection: An overview of chronic wounds, including their physiology, causes and management options

A wound is any injury that disrupts the structure of healthy skin tissue caused by chemical, mechanical, biological or thermal trauma. Wounds can be classified as acute or chronic, depending on their period of healing[1]. Acute wounds usually heal without complication within ten days; however, chronic wounds do not undergo normal healing processes, commonly have exaggerated inflammation, persistent infections or microbial biofilm formation and persist longer than six weeks[2–4]. The most frequent underlying causes of chronic wounds are pressure, diabetes and vascular diseases.