A wound with tissue that is too dark to assess the base is categorized as which stage?

• A. Stage I
• B. Stage II
• C. Stage III
• D. Unstageable

Answer: (D)

Staging focuses on how deep the tissue loss goes and what tissue is visible in the wound bed. When the base can’t be seen because the wound is covered with dark necrotic tissue like eschar or slough, you can’t determine depth. That uncertainty is why the wound is classified as unstageable. Once the necrotic tissue is removed or the base becomes visible, the true depth can be assessed and a specific stage assigned. The other stages describe wounds where the base is visible and depth is known: partial-thickness injuries involve loss of the epidermis, while full-thickness injuries involve deeper tissues such as subcutaneous tissue, and potentially muscle or bone.