Characterization of patients with wounds of a reference health unit in campo grande- ms

Wounds cause enormous expenses to the public coffers due to delayed treatment, difficulty in healing, deficits in human and material resources, old age, basic diseases, low self-esteem and a decrease in quality of life.Although "wounds" are the subject of several researches developed worldwide, there are still few studies in Brazil that characterize patients and their wounds. The purpose of this manuscript was to characterize patients with wounds treated at a reference health unit in the city of Campo Grande - MS- Brazil. A descriptive study was carried out involving 87 patients who spontaneously sought the curative rooms of the study field. The mean age of the patients was 60.5 years and there was a similar distribution between the sexes.50.5% of these had a companion, 50.5% were illiterate and 59.7% catholic. All of them lived in Campo Grande / MS. 72.4% of the patients had diseases associated with the wound, 24.1% were hypertension and 12.7% had Diabetes Mellitus. The most prevalent wounds were those that affected the right lower limb (59.8%), on the other hand, 62.06% were superficial and 40.2% traumatic etiology. The average existence of all types of wounds was 7.9 years. This study contributes to the identification and characterization of patients with wounds. In addition, it is revealed the need for improvements as regards the attendance to this clientele in terms of the human and material resources, as well as the need for consultation with nursing diagnosis, prescription, registration and evaluation.