The cleansing of superficial traumatic wounds

Patients with skin injuries account for 15% of accident and emergency (A&E) admissions (Leaman, 1991). Although there is evidence to suggest that wound cleansing is not always necessary (Thomlinson, 1987), no diagnostic test exists to allow healthcare practitioners to identify whether the bacterial load in the wound is capable of causing infection (Chrisholm, 1992). For this reason, all wounds in A&E should undergo some form of cleansing to decrease the bacterial inoculum in the wound to levels that can be managed by host defences (Chrisholm, 1992). Heyworth (1997) postulates that successful management of the contaminated wound must remove contaminants while inflicting minimal injury to tissue. This article reviews the research on the preparation and cleansing of superficial lacerations. Wound closure and indications for oral antibiotics will not be discussed.