Medical Practice | Jeffrey M Levine, MD

Teaching Wound Care to Medical Doctors

Apr 10, 2025

Imagine a disease that causes pain, disfigurement, amputations, infections, sepsis, and death that results in tens of millions of dollars in treatment costs but is not taught in medical school. Welcome to the world of wound care, where many American doctors graduate...

Does Anyone Remember “The Purple Book”?

Nov 15, 2024

I found my Purple Book in the bottom of a drawer when doing some cleaning. Although well used it was in good shape, and brought back memories of my early career. The book was published just as I was beginning my first job as attending physician and director of research in a large nursing home in the Bronx. During my geriatric fellowship at Mount Sinai Medical Center I became interested in chronic wounds because many patients suffered with them but there was little information available on prevention and treatment.

Wound Care for Geriatricians and Primary Care Practitioners

Oct 5, 2024

For this issue of Clinics in Geriatric Medicine, I invited leaders in the field to share their knowledge and expertise with the goal of educating clinicians on the basics of wound care. It is both an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to bring together information that will improve care of vulnerable adults in an area where it is most needed.

New Reference Work on Pressure Injuries and Chronic Wounds

Jul 27, 2024

I am proud to introduce my volume in Elsevier’s series of Clinics in Geriatric Medicine entitled Pressure Injuries and Chronic Wounds. To complete this work I invited leaders in the field to share their knowledge and expertise with the goal of educating...

Wet Cement—A Preventable Cause of Chemical Burn

Jul 19, 2024

Few people are aware that wet cement is a strong alkali that can cause deep third-degree burns necessitating surgical debridement and prolonged healing time. Chemical burns from cement can be avoided by adequate skin and eye protection as well as immediate first aid.

Wound Care Education for Medical Doctors: Filling the Gap

Mar 18, 2024

Doctors need to be taught how to assess and document wounds, prognosticate healing, address underlying comorbidities, and choose among the multiplicity of wound care treatment modalities. The task is huge, but I am pleased to make a small contribution to closing the gap.

Academic Promotion at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Jan 25, 2024

I am delighted to announce my promotion to Clinical Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Teaching medical students, residents, and fellows has been a passion, and over the years I had the honor and privilege of mentoring trainees through dozens of research projects related to wound care.

New Textbook Chapter on Pressure Injuries & Chronic Wounds

Nov 5, 2023

I am thrilled that my chapter entitled Pressure Injury and Chronic Wounds was just published in a major new reference work. The textbook is entitled Geriatric Medicine: A Person Centered Evidence Based Approach and is available on Springerlink. My chapter is illustrated by photos taken over years in practice, and illustrations that demonstrate pressure injury staging and aging skin.

Pressure Relief and Pressure Redistribution: What is the Difference?

Oct 7, 2023

These terms refer to different strategies and techniques used to alleviate and prevent excessive pressure on a person’s skin and underlying tissues, which can lead to tissue damage and the alterations in skin integrity.

Malnutrition Can Impact Wound Healing

Oct 2, 2023

To promote effective wound healing, it’s essential for individuals who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition to address their nutritional deficiencies through dietary improvements or, in severe cases, medical interventions such as nutritional supplements, feeding tubes, or intravenous nutrition.

Wound Bed Preparation is a Crucial Strategy to Heal Chronic Wounds

Sep 24, 2023

Wound bed preparation is a dynamic process that may require multiple interventions and ongoing care. The goal is to create an environment conducive to healing, reduce complications, and promote the restoration of normal tissue. Healthcare professionals, including wound care specialists, play a critical role in managing wound bed preparation for patients.

Vitamins and Wound Healing

Sep 9, 2023

Wound healing is a complex biological process that involves inflammation, tissue formation, and tissue remodeling. Vitamin supplements can play a role in wound healing by supporting various aspects of the body’s natural healing processes.

Teaching Wound Care at the American College of Physicians Annual Meeting

Apr 29, 2023

I recently had the honor of teaching a section entitled “Wound Care for the Internist.” at the annual meeting of the American College of Physicians (ACP) in San Diego. ACP is the largest medical specialty organization in the United States with members that include internal medicine physicians, subspecialists, and medical students. Kudos to ACP for including a section on wound care in their annual didactic.

Presenting Wound Care Research at the American Geriatrics Society Annual Meeting

May 15, 2022

Despite the well-documented association of chronic wounds with aging, we conclude that the field of geriatrics has provided suboptimal attention to this important topic.

COVID-Related Skin Injuries

May 3, 2022

Thankfully the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is over, but the public health crisis brought new challenges to the wound care world. There has been profound impact upon the epidemiology of skin lesions such as pressure injuries, and this post will discuss major...

Presenting on Skin Failure at SAWC

Apr 29, 2022

I was honored to present on skin failure at the Spring meeting of the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) in Phoenix. My presentation was intended to deliver basic concepts of skin failure pathophysiology outlined in my paper published in the March 2022 issue of Advances in Skin & Wound Care.

A Review of the Skin Failure Concept

Nov 19, 2021

This new manuscript reviews barrier functions of skin and defines specific pathophysiologic factors that lead to its disruption including hypoperfusion, hypoxia, increased vascular permeability, and edema – all of which act synergistically. The article further defines acute and chronic conditions leading to these pathophysiologic aberrations including Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome (MODS), protein-calorie malnutrition, and immunocompromised states. Also addressed are critical contributing factors such as age-related skin changes, frailty, sarcopenia, cytoskeletal and external forces, pharmacologic contributors, and the dying process.

Wound Odor: The View from Ancient Greece

May 10, 2021

The fascinating history of wound care dates back to the earliest human cultures, where prehistoric bones and cave paintings left hints of wound-healing knowledge. A major problem associated with wounds is odor, a phenomenon recognized for millennia. In today’s...

Speaking of Aging Skin at NPIAP

Feb 28, 2021

I am pleased to announce that I will be speaking at the upcoming National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel Annual Conference on the topic of aging skin. The NPIAP’s core mission is to provide interprofessional leadership to improve patient outcomes in pressure injury prevention and management through education, public policy, and research.

Is There a COVID-Related Wound?

Sep 21, 2020

This blog post explores whether there is a link between COVID and wounds. Understanding of this disease is still in the early stages, and it is unclear whether these skin lesions are the result of comorbidities or coinfection with other agents, or whether COVID-19 is actually responsible. The following skin lesions have been described with COVID-19 infection:

Suspension Therapy for Pressure Injuries: A Rediscovered Footnote to Nazi Medicine

Sep 14, 2020

Shortly after German surrender in WWII, a medical officer from occupying British forces inspected a military hospital in Germany and described a treatment for pressure injuries developed by Nazi doctors. The treatment, based on suspension of the patient by wires drilled into pelvic bones, has been lost to history until now.

History of Pressure Injury Treatment at the New York Academy of Medicine

Mar 14, 2020

I was recently honored to present at the New York Academy of Medicine’s 11th Annual History of Medicine Night, along with five other distinguished lecturers. My topic was entitled Bed-Sore Treatment by Suspension: A Case Report from WWII. While perusing old journals...

Skin Failure, Unavoidable Pressure Injuries, and Terminal Ulceration at NPIAP

Mar 1, 2020

I recently presented on the topic of skin failure at the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP) annual meeting in Houston on February 27th and 28th, sharing the podium with Janet Cuddigan PhD, RN, FAAN, President of NPIAP. The goal of our session was to...

Skin Failure at WoundCon 2020

Feb 25, 2020

This past winter I presented on SKIN FAILURE at WoundCon, the first of its kind ONLINE Virtual Wound Care Conference and Expo. Brought to you by the publishers of WoundSource®, this full-day virtual conference on Thursday, April 2, 2020 included a series of CME/CE...

New Review on Aging Skin, with Considerations for Clinicians

Jan 5, 2020

My review article entitled Clinical Aspects of Aging Skin is now online in the January edition of Advances in Skin & Wound Care, and is available on line at this link. This article is filled with practical information for the wound care practitioner, but does...

Pressure Injuries Expanded by CMS as Indicators of Hospital Harm

Sep 28, 2019

CMS has implemented a new quality measure for hospitals that expands the array of pressure injuries considered as adversely impacting quality care. The new measure, developed in a program to provide electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs), widens the scope of...

Terminal Ulcer Terminology Reconsidered

Sep 3, 2019

My new article in Wound Management & Prevention is a critical re-examination of terminal ulcer terminology. In it I make the case for recognizing terminal ulcers as part of the spectrum of skin failure (and not necessarily heralding death) and used only in...

Wound Care Research at the American Geriatrics Society Annual Meeting

May 9, 2019

I just returned from the American Geriatrics Society Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon, where parts of my wound care research were presented as a poster. My co-author was geriatrician-in-training Dr. Rikitha Menezes, who participated in data collection. Rikitha came...

Wound Care Boot Camp at the AMDA/PALTC Annual Meeting

Mar 10, 2019

Many times I’ve been asked to provide a lecture on wound care with an allotted time of 45 minutes to one hour. The reality is that wound care is so complex that one hour will provide only a superficial overview which may not serve many front-line clinicians. This...

Is the Pressure Injury Staging System Obsolete?

Feb 5, 2019

When I began researching my article in the March 2019 issue of Advances in Skin and Wound Care entitled Historical Perspective on Pressure Injury Classification: The Legacy of J. Darrel Shea, I did not intend to critique the staging system. I simply wanted insight...