Chronic Wounds: Diagnosis and Management

A special issue of Diagnostics (ISSN 2075-4418). This special issue belongs to the section "Pathology and Molecular Diagnostics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2025) | Viewed by 1452

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
SerenaGroup Research Foundation, Cambridge, MA, USA
Interests: chronic wound; diabetic foot ulcer; venous leg ulcer; bacterial burden; pressure ulcer
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Health Futures Institute, Centre for Molecular Medicine & Innovative Therapeutics, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, Australia
Interests: wound care; chronic wound

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, "Chronic Wounds: Diagnosis and Management," is dedicated to advancing the understanding and precision of diagnosing chronic wounds. It highlights the latest diagnostic techniques, assessment protocols, and clinical decision-making frameworks for the accurate identification of chronic wound conditions. This collection of articles explores the complexities of wound assessment, including risk factors, wound classification systems, and the role of advanced imaging modalities. By providing comprehensive insights into diagnostic approaches, this Special Issue aims to empower healthcare professionals to make informed treatment decisions, ultimately leading to improved patient outcomes in the management of chronic wounds.

Dr. Thomas E. Serena
Dr. Kylie Sandy-Hodgetts
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diagnostics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • chronic wound
  • imaging
  • biomarker
  • point-of-care techniques

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

20 pages, 2479 KB  
Article
Predictors of Unfavorable Outcomes in Diabetic Foot Ulcers
by Renata Pauliukienė, Kristina Šutienė, Aistė Čemerkaitė and Jonas Čeponis
Diagnostics 2025, 15(23), 3070; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15233070 - 2 Dec 2025
Viewed by 945
Abstract
Background/Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify systemic, metabolic, and host-related prognostic factors for long-term outcomes in patients with a diabetic foot ulcer (DFU). Methods: One hundred patients were selected from a high-risk cohort of 426 individuals with a [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify systemic, metabolic, and host-related prognostic factors for long-term outcomes in patients with a diabetic foot ulcer (DFU). Methods: One hundred patients were selected from a high-risk cohort of 426 individuals with a DFU (January 2021–January 2023) based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Clinical, laboratory, and imaging data were collected. Outcomes were categorized as favorable (healing) or unfavorable (non-healing, re-ulceration, amputation, or death). Prognostic factors were analyzed using random forest and categorical boosting models, with SHAP values to determine the importance of individual predictors. Results: The median age of participants was 65 years (interquartile range [IQR], 57–69.25), and the median duration of diabetes was 18 years (IQR, 12–26). Over a mean 2.1-year follow-up, unfavorable outcomes occurred in 53% of the whole cohort and in 36% of survivors. The strongest predictors of poor prognosis were prior amputation, elevated inflammatory markers, reduced eGFR, and dyslipidemia. Triglycerides showed a U-shaped association with outcomes. A lower BMI and shorter diabetes duration paradoxically were also linked to poorer prognosis. Glycemic control, comorbidities, and local foot characteristics had limited predictive value. Conclusions: Long-term DFU prognosis is driven mainly by systemic and host-related factors rather than by ulcer characteristics alone. Inflammation, renal dysfunction, dyslipidemia—particularly triglycerides—and prior amputation were the strongest predictors of unfavorable outcomes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chronic Wounds: Diagnosis and Management)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop