Editorial

What is it about?

The April issue of Journal of Wound Management showcases twelve original research and review articles covering themes such as well-being, education, in vitro studies and discussion topics. It is timely to present such diversity in terms of themes, authors, disciplines and countries as soon, EWMA will welcome over 7000 delegates to the 36th Conference of the European Wound Management Association which will take place jointly with the DEWU Deutscher Wundkongress on 6–8 May 2026 in Bremen, Germany. The conference is organised in cooperation with the German Wound Congress (DEWU Deutscher Wundkongress) and the association of the national German-speaking associations (WundD.A.CH) and in collaboration with the German Chronic Wounds Initiative (ICW) and the German Wound Council (Deutscher Wundrat e. V.). The 2026 EWMA-DEWU Conference theme, “Rebooting versus Rethinking Wound Care in a Changing World,” captures the balance between refinement and transformation in modern wound care practice. These themes are reflected in the articles in this issue. Well established interventions, such as topical negative therapy, continue to be re-examined and evaluated in articles by Thapa et al and Thng et al, demonstrating that despite the long standing acceptability and use of this technology it still stimulates enquiry. The impact of the wound on the lives of individuals calls on all of us to focus on strategies to enhance the quality of life and wellbeing of those affected. An article by Mandeng Ma Linwa et al focuses on this topic and reviews the current state of the art in this domain. A panel of experts have considered future challenges and opportunities in the management of diabetic foot disease in the article by Armstrong et al, and identified real-world evidence generation as being the top priority. A survey among clinicians in Italy focusing also on diabetic foot disease, by Piaggessi et al, is interesting in its findings. While management of infection, emergencies and vascularisation were among the top three priorities from a clinical perspective, it was somewhat concerning that primary prevention was the second lowest priority. The paper by Tehan et al dovetails well with other articles in the issue and perhaps speaks to a theme of needing to reboot our focus on guidelines and their implementation. Tehan et al conducted an international survey among 178 clinicians across 27 countries seeking to determine the impact of post-graduate wound care education on clinical practice, confidence and career progression. Unsurprisingly, 33% of their respondents said that having such a qualification enhanced their career progression. However, despite this qualification, many reported that knowledge implementation was restricted by institution resistance and restricted access to advanced wound care products. The expert panel article by Armstrong et al reinforces this, as guideline unification and refinement are among the top five priorities for the future. Piaggessi et al, in their survey reported lack of knowledge of guidelines as an issue in need of education from a clinical perspective. Education continues to be a theme in the paper by Bernardes et al who explore the effectiveness of an educational website to enhance knowledge and satisfaction about pressure injuries using a quasi-experimental study. On a positive note, in the field of paediatric pressure injuries Bauernfeind et al, reported complete elimination of Grade 2 pressure injuries when a quality improvement project was implemented, further supporting the call for evidence generation. Other articles focus on a broad spectrum of topics and support both rebooting and rethinking. These include article on: clinical and microbiological outcomes of topical mupirocin-corticosteroid treatment for infected wounds in wistar rats; mammography-induced skin tears: unravelling personal and professional narratives through netnography; efficacy of a non-invasive mechanical wound closure device in post-bariatric plastic surgery; and comparative effectiveness and cost assessment of polymer dressings for acute partial-thickness burns via a systematic review and meta-analysis’. We look forward to the discussions and debate and presentation of research findings during the conference in May and in July. We will publish the conference book of abstracts, thus enabling full open access to this exciting content.

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