Atypical wounds are generally understood as wounds that cannot be defined under one of the primary non-healing wound categories, or those present in unusual sites and with the abnormal presentation. It is thought that many of these wound types are caused by conditions such as malignancy and rare illnesses. They tend to fall into the causation categories of inflammatory wounds, autoimmune disease, infective wounds, external cause, or genetic/hereditary causes.
Bullous pemphigoid: This is a rare autoimmune condition that generally affects the elderly population. It occurs when the immune system forms antibodies that then attack its tissues. Blisters arise that can become painful; as this is an autoimmune disease, it renders the patient at increased risk of wound infection via these skin breaches along the dermis/epidermis junction. On occasions, these blisters present in the mouth, throat, and the intestinal tract; these can also occur in the trachea, and this is a life-threatening situation that requires immediate hospital admission for mechanical ventilation. The mainstay wound treatment for this condition is steroids. The wound management priority is to protect the patient from wound infection as far as possible by using antimicrobial wound dressings that also provide a moist environment to prevent adherence and pain.
