Living with a chronic abdominal wound -: the patients' perspective

Chronic abdominal wounds lead to prolonged hospital stays. However, no data exist that describe the experience of persons living with a chronic abdominal wound. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the experience of persons living with chronic abdominal wounds and elicit their expectations in health professionals. Narrative interviews were conducted with five women and four men. Using content analysis techniques, five categories with one to four subcategories emerged from the data. "Returning to everyday life without a wound" represents the main goal of the participants and is driven by their hope to achieve this outcome. "Everyday life with the wound" illustrates the reality of participants' lives, which is affected by suffering. "The patients' work" demonstrates the component that patients contribute to managing their wound. "The work of primary support persons" shows the importance of the work of people close to the patient. "The work of professionals" includes the expectations that patients have in their care-givers. Teamwork between professionals, patients and primary support persons seems to be an essential condition for the successful healing of an abdominal wound.