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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A patient receiving chemotherapy develops a wound that fails to progress through the proliferative phase. Chemotherapy most likely impairs healing by:
Answer: Suppressing rapidly dividing cells including fibroblasts and keratinocytes
Chemotherapy targets rapidly dividing cells; fibroblasts and keratinocytes essential for wound repair are collateral casualties of cytotoxic therapy.
Which hematologic condition most directly impairs the inflammatory phase of wound healing by reducing the supply of growth factors released during clot formation?
Answer: Thrombocytopenia
Platelets degranulate at injury sites releasing PDGF, TGF-β, and EGF; thrombocytopenia reduces this critical growth factor reservoir.
A wound care nurse notes that a patient with rheumatoid arthritis on methotrexate has impaired wound healing. Methotrexate contributes primarily by:
Answer: Inhibiting folate metabolism required for DNA synthesis and cell proliferation
Methotrexate is a folate antagonist; by blocking dihydrofolate reductase it impairs DNA synthesis, reducing fibroblast and keratinocyte proliferation.
In a patient with liver cirrhosis, which specific mechanism most impairs wound healing?
Answer: Impaired hepatic synthesis of clotting factors and albumin reduces healing capacity
The liver synthesizes clotting factors for hemostasis and albumin for protein stores; cirrhosis impairs both, undermining the inflammatory and proliferative phases.
Which effect of uncontrolled diabetes MOST directly reduces the tensile strength of a healing wound?
Answer: Hyperglycemia glycates collagen, impairing its structural integrity
Non-enzymatic glycation of collagen molecules in hyperglycemia cross-links them abnormally, reducing their mechanical strength and wound tensile integrity.
An elderly patient's wound heals significantly slower than a younger adult with the same injury. Which age-related change is the PRIMARY contributor?
Answer: Decreased macrophage function and reduced growth factor production slow repair
Aging reduces macrophage efficiency and diminishes growth factor secretion, prolonging the inflammatory phase and delaying transition to proliferation.
Which nutritional marker best reflects a patient's IMMEDIATE (within 48–72 hours) response to nutritional intervention in wound care?
Answer: Prealbumin (transthyretin)
Prealbumin's 2–3 day half-life makes it the most responsive lab marker for monitoring acute changes in nutritional status after intervention.