Debridement is the removal of dead tissue from a wound. It’s one of the main treatments offered at a wound care center.
Put simply, this treatment removes dead skin and tissue. It can be done surgically with sharp tools, or through methods such as whirlpool baths, saline irrigation, wet-to-dry dressings, or enzymes. Large wounds may require general anesthesia.
For diabetic foot ulcers, it looks like this in practice: the provider cuts away the dead tissue, then washes out the ulcer. With the enzyme method, the enzymes dissolve dead tissue from the wound.
The reason it’s done comes down to what dead tissue does to an assessment and to healing. A sore covered in dead skin that is yellow, tan, green or brown is called unstageable, because the dead skin makes it hard to tell how deep the sore is. Tissue that cannot be seen through cannot be judged, and new tissue cannot fill a space that is occupied.
Dry eschars can benefit from enzymatic debridement, such as collagenase. That’s one example of the enzyme method, not a recommendation for any particular wound.
What decides which method is used, and whether debridement is needed at all, is the wound itself. That is an assessment, and this page cannot make it.