Skin tears are frequently encountered in emergency and unscheduled care, and are prevalent in older people. Patients may present soon after an acute skin tear, or at a later stage when the wound presentation is different and there are complications. This article describes evidence-based recommendations and strategies for the prevention, assessment and management of skin tears, discusses risk factors and explains when to refer patients for specialist management.
Emergency Nurse. 25, 3, 32-39. doi: 10.7748/en.2017.e1687
Correspondence Peer reviewThis article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software
Conflict of interestNone declared
Received: 01 January 2017
Accepted: 21 February 2017
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