Management of Infected Wounds: A Wound Healing Foundation Consensus Statement

The Wound Healing Foundation (WHF) previously organized consensus panels on the management of chronic wounds (2022), acute wounds (2024), and diabetic wounds (2025). This WHF consensus statement, authored by a global interdisciplinary panel of clinicians and researchers, focuses on the management of infected wounds. The panel members reviewed the literature and reached consensus on elements of an evidence-based approach to infected wounds. Using a structured format, this statement progresses from discussing how wound infections develop, how to diagnose them, how to provide the most appropriate antimicrobial and surgical treatment, how to assess response to treatment, and how to further investigate instances of unsuccessful treatment.