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 with venous insufficiency has a wound that is not healing despite local wound care. The underlying systemic mechanism causing delayed healing is BEST described as:
Answer: Chronic venous hypertension leading to fibrin cuff formation and tissue hypoxia
Elevated venous pressure causes pericapillary fibrin cuff deposition, which acts as a diffusion barrier reducing oxygen and nutrient delivery to wound tissue.
Radiation therapy to a wound area impairs healing primarily because it:
Answer: Causes obliterative endarteritis, reducing microvascular blood supply
Radiation damages endothelial cells and causes progressive obliterative endarteritis (fibrosis of small vessels), permanently impairing tissue perfusion.
Which vitamin plays a key role in keratinocyte differentiation and epithelialization, and its deficiency is associated with delayed wound healing?
Answer: Vitamin A
Vitamin A promotes keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation, as well as collagen synthesis; deficiency impairs epithelialization and inflammatory phase initiation.
A patient with sickle cell disease has a chronic leg ulcer. The primary mechanism contributing to impaired healing in this condition is:
Answer: Sickling of red cells causes vaso-occlusion, leading to tissue ischemia
Sickled erythrocytes occlude microvessels, creating repeated ischemia-reperfusion injury and chronic tissue hypoxia that prevent wound healing.
NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) taken chronically can impair early wound healing because they:
Answer: Block prostaglandin synthesis, impairing platelet aggregation and early inflammation
NSAIDs inhibit COX enzymes, reducing prostaglandins needed for platelet aggregation and triggering the inflammatory cascade essential to early wound healing.
Zinc deficiency specifically impairs wound healing by affecting which process?
Answer: Collagen cross-linking and DNA polymerase activity needed for cell division
Zinc is a cofactor for DNA polymerase and collagen-stabilizing enzymes; deficiency impairs cell proliferation and collagen synthesis during wound repair.
A morbidly obese patient undergoes bariatric surgery and develops a post-operative wound dehiscence. Beyond poor vascularity, which additional obesity-related factor contributes most to dehiscence?
Answer: Increased mechanical tension on the wound due to abdominal fat mass
The mechanical tension exerted by a large abdominal pannus places constant stress on incision lines, overwhelming even adequate collagen formation and causing dehiscence.