[Systematic management of chronic wounds employing the TIME concept].

The notion that chronic wounds are merely a variant of acute wounds is obsolete. The pathophysiology of chronic wounds differs in essence from that of acute wounds. The former is a specific pathological entity that requires both a systematic disease-specific diagnostic work-up and treatment. For the diagnosis and treatment of chronic wounds, the Wound Bed Preparation Advisory Board has proposed a new conceptthat goes bythe acronym of TIME, the letters of which refer to the structures to be diagnosed and treated: T = tissue, I = inflammation or infection, M = moisture (wound exudate), E = edge (of the wound). The present article discusses the principles and scientific background to this TIME concept.