The past year has been a busy one for wound education, says Suzie Calne.

It is exactly one year since the launch of Wounds International and we have continued to build on our initial success with the site now receiving over 18,000 hits per month from clinicians in over 120 countries/territories. Our mission remains the same – to provide free all-inclusive, quality editorial to the global wound care community – and this issue of the journal reflects this goal, with contributions from authors in Egypt, China, Taiwan, Australia, Germany, the US, Canada and the UK.
 
The main focus is on innovations in the management of surgical site infection. Professor David Leaper summarises the key articles in his guest editorial as well as providing a global perspective on the topic.
 
As always it must be stressed that maintaining high standards in simple practices such as hand washing and aseptic technique remain the cornerstones of infection prevention.

In addition, this issue features a number of articles on unusual wound management problems such as treating wounds caused by body piercing and a special report on giant condylomata acuminata. With the increasing normalisation of piercing and the surprisingly high number of associated wound infections, this is something many clinicians will find themselves having to deal with (I didn't take any chances as a teenager and had my ears pierced in a hospital operating theatre!).

Also, in this issue, Mei-Yu Hsu and colleagues remind us that attention to detail is the key to good wound care. The team developed a simple wound dressing that helps to prevent pressure damage to the forehead, cheeks and the bridge of the nose resulting from the tubing used in ventilation. In clinical settings such as intensive care units, developing measures to protect skin integrity and avoid severe pressure damage is a priority in critically compromised patients.

Sharing similar experiences and creative practice is the key to learning in wound care as in any other specialty. The first Wounds International Global Wound Care Conference takes place in Cape Town, South Africa on February 1-3, 2011 and offers a unique opportunity to extend your knowledge on the various approaches to wound management across different geographies. Although February seems a long way off at the moment, we are busy preparing for the conference and plenty of abstracts have already been submitted.

Although Cape Town is the setting for the 'live' conference, this will be followed by an ongoing virtual exhibition and various online activities will be made available via the Wounds International website, including a number of Made Easy interactive sessions, an online extension of the popular Made Easy series that feature regularly in the journal. For example, in this issue the NPWT in Everyday Practice Made Easy builds on the NPWT Settings and Dressing Choices Made Easy, which was published in May 2010. The latest article offers clear, practical advice for clinicians on patient-specific factors related to negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), such as identifying patient safety issues related to managing NPWT at home.

The Products for Practice Made Easy in this issue features the SILVERCEL™ Non-Adherent Antimicrobial dressing (Systagenix) and details its mode of action as well as when and how it should be used in practice.
 
With a growing number of visitors each month, it is important that the journal continues to provide a relevant and useful service. The aim is that by reading the various sections of the journal, such as the innovations series and the research digest (a summary of key papers from other journals), clinicians can get a reliable and quick update on any new developments in wound management.

As always, we rely on readers' feedback and would welcome any comments on the content of the journal as well as any suggestions for topics you would like to see covered. See you in Cape Town!

Suzie Calne
Editor, Wounds International

If you would like to contribute to a future issue of the journal, please contact Suzie Calne, the editor of Wounds International at: scalne@woundsinternational.com