Wound Care Certification Systemic Factors Affecting Healing Flashcards
7 cards from real Wound Care Certification Exam practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
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Which mechanism explains why patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) experience impaired wound healing?
Answer: Uremic toxins inhibit fibroblast proliferation and collagen synthesis
Uremic toxins that accumulate in CKD inhibit fibroblast function and impair collagen synthesis, delaying wound repair.
A patient on long-term systemic corticosteroids presents with a non-healing surgical wound. Which cellular process is most directly impaired by corticosteroids?
Answer: Neutrophil and macrophage inflammatory response
Corticosteroids suppress the inflammatory phase by inhibiting neutrophil and macrophage activity, which are essential for wound debridement and growth factor release.
Which nutritional deficiency most directly impairs hydroxylation of proline and lysine, weakening collagen cross-linking?
Answer: Vitamin C deficiency
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a required cofactor for prolyl and lysyl hydroxylase enzymes that stabilize collagen's triple helix structure.
A patient with poorly controlled hypothyroidism has a wound that is healing slowly. What is the primary reason thyroid hormone deficiency impairs healing?
Answer: Reduced basal metabolic rate decreases cellular energy for repair
Thyroid hormones regulate basal metabolic rate; deficiency reduces the energy available for cell proliferation, protein synthesis, and tissue remodeling.
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) impairs wound healing primarily by:
Answer: Reducing oxygen and nutrient delivery due to arterial insufficiency
PAD reduces arterial blood flow, limiting the oxygen and nutrients required for cellular proliferation and collagen synthesis.
Which laboratory value is the BEST indicator of a patient's long-term nutritional status and protein availability for wound healing?
Answer: Prealbumin (transthyretin)
Prealbumin has a half-life of 2–3 days, making it the most sensitive short-to-medium-term marker of current protein status and nutritional change.
Obesity impairs wound healing through which DIRECT mechanism?
Answer: Adipose tissue is poorly vascularized, reducing oxygen tension at wound edges
Adipose tissue has relatively poor blood supply, resulting in lower oxygen tension in subcutaneous layers and impairing the oxygen-dependent steps of wound healing.