In highlighting the prevalence and incidence of peristomal skin complications, the importance of describing the appearance of the skin is justified as the first step in the peristomal skin assessment. To assist in provision of a structured and consistent use of terminology, the acronym of P.L.A.C.E.D is proposed. This ASCN UK initiated tool acts as a prompt to capture ‘what you see’.
An overview of peristomal skin assessment tools are identified to provide scoring of the severity and extent of the peristomal complication. Based on a literature review the five key classifications are identified. However, the presentation emphasises the need for advanced specialist holistic assessment which is essential to consider the cause and ultimate classification of the peristomal skin complication.