Two numbers define the problem a wound care center exists to treat. You may have a non-healing wound if it has not started to heal in 2 weeks, or has not completely healed in 6 weeks.
Started to heal in two weeks. Completely healed in six. These thresholds aren’t specific to surgery. They’re how a non-healing wound of any kind is defined.
Surgical wounds are one of the common types of non-healing wound. The others include pressure sores, radiation sores, and foot ulcers due to diabetes, poor blood flow, chronic bone infection or swollen legs.
There are also common reasons a wound might not heal well, and they’re effectively the list of reasons a referral gets made: diabetes, poor circulation due to damage to arteries or veins, nerve damage, bone infection, being inactive or immobile, a weak immune system, poor nutrition, excess alcohol use, smoking, and having a foreign body such as a piece of wood or broken glass in the wound. Working out which of these apply is part of the job. The wound care team will determine why your wound isn’t healing.
A referral isn’t only about the wound not closing. The goals of treatment are to heal the wound, keep it from getting worse or becoming infected, prevent limb loss, keep new wounds from occurring or old wounds from coming back, and help you stay mobile.
One honest caveat. In practice, referral depends on the surgeon, the clinic and the health system as much as on any single number. These two numbers describe what a non-healing wound is. They aren’t a rule about when a referral must be made, and they don’t override what your surgical team has planned.