ISTAP Skin Tear Classification
Classifies a skin tear by what has happened to the flap, after the International Skin Tear Advisory Panel.
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- A flap is present
- Yes
Result: type 2, a flap present but not covering the whole wound bed
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What the result means
- Type 1
- No skin loss. The flap can be repositioned to cover the wound bed.
- Type 2
- Partial flap loss. The flap cannot be repositioned to cover the whole wound bed.
- Type 3
- Total flap loss. The wound bed is entirely exposed.
- Not a pressure injury stage
- A skin tear is an acute traumatic wound. Calling it a stage 2 borrows a vocabulary built for a different mechanism, and the two systems are not interchangeable.
- What the type describes
- The flap, not the depth or the cause. A type 3 is not worse tissue; it is a flap that is gone.
- What it does not do
- Choose a dressing. It records what was found so the next person sees the same thing, and a skin tear is preventable harm in most settings.
What you enter
- A flap is present
- The flap can be repositioned to cover the whole wound bed
- Type, if it is already assigned (leave empty to derive it from the flap)
How this is calculated
LeBlanc K, Baranoski S, Christensen D, et al. International Skin Tear Advisory Panel: a tool kit to aid in the prevention, assessment, and treatment of skin tears using a simplified classification system. Adv Skin Wound Care. 2013;26(10):459-476. Read the source ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.