Ulcer

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Structure of the skin
Classification according to ICD-10
L98.4 Chronic skin ulcer, not elsewhere classified
ICD-10 online (WHO version 2019)

The ulcer or ulcer ( plurality ulcers or ulcers ), German ulcer (medium high German geswër , "ulcer, abscess, tumor," related to Schwär of medium high German Swer "physical pain disease, ulcer, tumor"), referred to in medicine a "Deep-lying substance defect" of the skin or a mucous membrane , which is not traumatic but z. B. infectious , ischemic or immunological etiology (origin). The term “ wound ”, on the other hand, also includes substance defects of traumatic origin.

More superficial defects are called erosion (the upper epidermal layers are affected here ) or excoriation (all layers of the epidermis are affected, including the basement membrane ), see also efflorescence . Such defects can also be of traumatic origin (for example abrasions). What breaks through the basement membrane (the boundary between epidermis and dermis ) is generally referred to as a deep wound - or if it is atraumatic, an ulcer.

Because the presence of an intact basal cell layer ( stratum germinativum , the basement membrane as a single-layer epithelium) is necessary for scarless healing , in contrast to the more superficial defects, scarless healing is no longer possible in ulcers .

The development of an ulcer is called ulceration . The cause can be circulatory disorders, infections (possibly with secretion of pus ) or tumors , or a combination of these factors (e.g. in diabetes mellitus ). Ulcerations are often symptoms of general illnesses and are often multiple.

Common forms

Untreated leg ulcer

Web links

Wiktionary: ulcer  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. Alphabetical index to the ICD-10-WHO version 2019, volume 3. German Institute for Medical Documentation and Information (DIMDI), Cologne, 2019, p. 902
  2. ^ Friedrich Kluge , Alfred Götze : Etymological dictionary of the German language . 20th edition. Edited by Walther Mitzka . De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1967; Reprint (“21st unchanged edition”) ibid 1975, ISBN 3-11-005709-3 , pp. 653 and 689.