Tratamento ambulatorial de feridas crônicas: caracterização de uma clientela

Abstract

From the development occurred in the areas of cytology and histology, studies were performed aiming at the best treatment for wounds. Health professionals began to see the patient holistically and, thus, they could have a better understanding of the healing process. Due to this development, professionals and institutions reorganized health care to these patients. Thus, in 1998, an outpatient clinic that treated patients with leg ulcers in Belo Horizonte, was restructured and began seeing patients with chronic wounds of various etiologies, supported by a protocol. The nurse took charge of the treatment by assessing and establishing procedures backed by scientific evidence. By 2011, 427 patients with lesions received medical assistance in this service, in addition to the implementation of various treatments obtaining different results. This work was developed from the following objectives: to characterize the demographic and epidemiological profile of patients with chronic wounds treated in a outpatient centre in the stomatherapy sector and to identify the time a patient stays in the centre according to the etiology of the lesion. This is a descriptive, exploratory and retrospective developed based on a sample of 374 patients, corresponding to 87.6% of the population. The results confirmed that the majority were women, adults in the productive age group, brown complexion, low schooling, married, retired, with a family income of one to three minimum wages. Most also did not make use of alcohol or tobacco, had hypertension and diabetes mellitus as major diseases and were overweight or obese. The main causes of injury were surgeries and venous insufficiency. The majority of patients had only one wound and the main location was in the lower limbs. Most patients were discharged once cured after having had up to six months of treatment, regardless of etiology. Considering the high percentage of cures in a short period of time, besides almost half of the patients treated not being from Belo Horizonte, the service can be characterized as a reference treatment of lesions in the Unified Health System (SUS) of Minas Gerais .