What are the principles of wound management?

In daily life, we are bound to encounter some small wounds. If we cannot deal with them in time, they may fester and bacteria will invade and make it difficult for the wound to heal. This will likely leave scars and affect the appearance. Moreover, many wounds may become infected if they are not sutured in time, which will make the healing time longer and the scars larger. Here, I will introduce some principles of wound treatment.

For general skin wounds, the first thing to do is to stop the bleeding. The most convenient way to stop bleeding is to directly apply pressure to the injured part, and then release it for examination by the doctor in the hospital. Unless the bleeding from the wound is spurting out, randomly using rubber, cloth tape, etc. to tie up the limbs above the injured part to stop bleeding should be avoided as much as possible.

Secondly, the wound should be kept clean. In the past, some people stuffed tobacco, incense ash, or unsterilized objects into the wound, which is wrong. The wound should be rinsed with disinfectant and bandaged with sterile dressings. If there is no sterile dressing on site, use the cleanest gauze or cloth possible and press it directly on the wound for bandage.

Third, you should be sent to a hospital or first aid station as soon as possible to receive proper treatment for your injuries. If the wound is contaminated, medical staff will clean and disinfect it and remove the dead tissue. This process is called debridement. As long as the conditions of the medical unit and the local wound meet the requirements for suturing, the wound will generally be sutured as much as possible.

Fourth, regardless of whether the wound is sutured or not, since the wound may be exposed to bacteria during the injury process, oral or injected antibiotics should be taken appropriately after the injury to prevent infection. Fifth, since tetanus invades through wounds, once infected it can threaten the patient's life. Therefore, people who have not been vaccinated against tetanus should be injected with preventive drugs such as tetanus antitoxin within 12 to 24 hours of injury. With the correct treatment above, the wound can heal in a short time.

The above is the knowledge about wound treatment. When you have a wound on your body, you should pay attention to timely cleaning, disinfection, bandaging, and use antibiotics to prevent infection and tetanus antitoxin to prevent tetanus. The purpose of this treatment is to prevent wound infection, speed up wound healing time and reduce scars after healing. I hope the editor’s answer can help you.