Journal Articles

Back to basics: understanding moisture-associated skin damage

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Back to basics: understanding moisture-associated skin damage

Trudie Young
1 November 2017

Moisture-associated skin damage (MASD) is the umbrella term for four clinical manifestations, namely incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD), intertriginous dermatitis (ITD), periwound moisture-associated dermatitis and peristomal moisture-associated dermatitis. Excess moisture and the associated chemical irritants cause MASD. The difference between the four conditions is the type of moisture that induces the skin damage. Urine and faeces cause IAD, ITD is caused by perspiration, peristomal damage is due to effluent from the stoma coming into contact with the skin, and periwound moisture-associated dermatitis is a result of wound exudate being present on the skin surrounding the wound (Gray et al, 2011; Beeckman et al, 2017). 

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