A physical therapist inspects a patient’s wound during a dressing change. The physical therapist identifies moderate amounts of purulent exudate throughout the wound surface and dressing. What would this type of exudate MOST likely be colored?

1. Clear
2. Yellow
3. Pink
4. Red

Welcome back to the Scorebuilders’ Question and Answer Podcast! This podcast provides members of the Scorebuilders’ team with the opportunity to explore challenging multiple-choice examination questions with students actively preparing for the licensing examination. My name is Scott Giles and I will be your host for today’s journey.

Today’s question deals with wounds and specifically types of exudate. I am not going to lie to you, even saying the word wound makes my stomach start to get a little queezy, and then thinking about wound exudate only heightens my level of discomfort.

Exactly, how soft am I? I admittedly am pretty darn soft. To give you an example, I have three grown children but when they were infants it was not out of the question for me to feel physically ill when changing a particularly horrific diaper. I thought that my wife may recognize this and perhaps spare me the terrifying duty, but regrettably I was told to saddle up and do it. Fair enough, I guess. Unfortunately, thousands of diapers later my response was still the same.

Needless to say, my career path did not involve wound care or working in an acute care hospital. Hello outpatient orthopedics!

At this point, my primary goal related to wound care is to simply to make it through this podcast.

Ready? Let’s go!

A physical therapist inspects a patient’s wound during a dressing change. The physical therapist identifies moderate amounts of purulent exudate throughout the wound surface and dressing. What would this type of exudate MOST likely be colored?

1. Clear
2. Yellow
3. Pink
4. Red

Exudate
Exudate consists of cells, proteins, and solid materials that move to the site of injury from the circulatory system in response to local inflammation. This inflammatory response leads to blood vessel dilatation and increased permeability, resulting in increased production of exudate.

Characteristics of wound exudate that can be evaluated in the clinical setting include the color, consistency, presence of odor, and amount present. The color and consistency will vary depending on the type of wound, degree of moisture in the wound, wound healing phase, and presence of organisms in the wound.

The question is specifically asking – The color of purulent exudate.

Let’s explore each of the options:

Option 1 - Clear
Examining exudate can be performed by direct observation of the wound itself or, if the wound is covered, through direct observation of the dressing. Clear (e.g., serous) exudate is described as opaque or light color fluid with a thin, watery consistency. This particular type of exudate is normal during the inflammatory and proliferative phases of healing and is often observed in venous ulceration and partial-thickness wounds.

Serous exudate is considered to be a normal type of wound drainage and often appears in the first 48-72 hours.

Option 2 - Yellow
Yellow (e.g., purulent) exudate presents with a thick, viscous consistency. Purulent exudate, which can also be green in color, often signals wound infection and may be associated with a foul odor. This type of exudate contains white blood cells, dead bacteria, wound debris, and inflammatory cells.

Option 3 - Pink
Pink (e.g., serosanguineous) exudate is pink in color and can be a normal exudate in a healthy healing wound. The pink tinge is a result of red blood cells, often caused by trauma to superficial capillaries during dressing changes.

Option 4 - Red
Red (e.g., sanguineous) exudate is red in color and indicates a bloody discharge, which may be indicative of either new blood vessel growth (normal healing tissue) or a disruption of blood vessels (abnormal).

The correct answer is Option 2

Let’s explore the all student data:
15% of students selected Option 1, Clear
77% of students selected Option 2, Yellow, the correct response
6% of students selected Option 3, Pink
2% of students selected Option 4, Red

System Classification
This question is an Other Systems question which represents approximately 21% of all exam items.

Content Outline Classification
This question is a Physical Therapy Examination question which represents approximately 24% of all exam items.

Level Classification
This question is a Level 1 question since the question requires students to possess basic foundational academic knowledge. Remediation of Level 1 questions occurs through academic review of entry-level content using textbooks, review books, Basecamp, and flash cards.

Academic Focus Area
Looking to review related academic content? Page 518 from our review book PTEXAM: The Complete Study Guide.

Thanks for joining us on the Scorebuilders Q and A podcast! See you next week!

Watch the video version of this Q&A episode on YouTube - https://youtu.be/2gayR6KiLsk