This paper provides an overview of cavity wounds, focusing on the definition, assessment and management of a common clinical problem in wound care. The term cavity wound is applied widely to a diverse range of acute and chronic wound types and, although each type requires a specific wound management approach reflecting the causation, the overall principles of cavity wound assessment and management remain the same. The extent of a cavity wounds can be difficult to visualise and such wounds require precise documentation and wound measurement if progress is to be accurately monitored and patient safety maintained.