Debridement is the medical removal of dead, damaged, or infected tissue to improve the healing potential of the remaining healthy tissue. Removal may be surgical, mechanical, chemical, or autolytic (self-digestion).

  1. All wounds experience some level of autolytic debridement, which is the natural and highly selective process by which endogenous proteolytic enzymes break down necrotic tissue
  2. Sharp or surgical debridement is a surgical procedure that uses scissors, scalpels and other sharp instruments to cut away or remove infected tissue. It improves the wound's appearance and promotes enhanced healing.
  3. Mechanical debridement is a nonselective, physical method of removing necrotic tissue and debris from a wound using mechanical force. This debridement method is generally easy to perform and is more rapid than autolytic and enzymatic debridement.


For medical records and billing, Fastcare tracks the date of debridement in the wound evaluations performed by facility wound nurses and in the ICD10 forms, which are available only to Gentell WCS personnel.


Every wound on an initial ICD10 must have a Debridement/Surgical date. This is a mandatory field, and the WCS cannot progress until filling out the debridement date. Ideally, the facility has already created a debridement date, and the ICD10 pulls that date. However, if there is no existing debridement date, then the WCD must  research and enter the date.


RULES GOVERNING THE ICD10 DEBRIDEMENT/SURGICAL DATE FIELD

  • If the field is empty (no facility date exists), it defaults to this format: MM/DD/YYYY 
  • If no date exists from facility evals, the Genttell WCS must fill it out the first time. 
  • When the WCS returns for a new ICD10, the debridement date should default to the either (1) the debridement date set by the facility (2) the existing debridement date entered by the WCS or (3) if both exist, the most recent debridement date.