Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Wound irrigation with tap water

R M Moscati1, R F Reardon, E B Lerner

  • 1Department of Emergency Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo, USA. moscati@acsu.buffalo.edu

Academic Emergency Medicine : Official Journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
|December 3, 1998
PubMed
Summary

Tap water irrigation effectively removed bacteria from simple lacerations in a rat model, outperforming sterile saline in decontamination. This finding suggests tap water is a viable, cost-effective alternative for wound cleaning.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Impact of Prehospital Pain Management on Emergency Department Management of Injured Children.

Prehospital emergency care·2021
Same author

Does an individualized feedback mechanism improve quality of out-of-hospital CPR?

Resuscitation·2017
Same author

Chest compression duration influences outcome between integrated load-distributing band and manual CPR during cardiac arrest.

Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica·2015
Same author

Post-war development of emergency medicine in Kosovo.

Emergency medicine journal : EMJ·2006
Same author

The influence of demographic factors on seatbelt use by adults injured in motor vehicle crashes.

Accident; analysis and prevention·2001
Same author

Initial experience of emergency physicians using the intubating laryngeal mask airway: a case series.

Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine·2001

Area of Science:

  • Wound healing research
  • Microbiology
  • Surgical preparation

Background:

  • Effective bacterial removal is crucial for wound closure and preventing infection.
  • Sterile saline is commonly used for wound irrigation, but its efficacy and practicality are debated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the efficacy of tap water versus sterile saline in removing bacteria from simple lacerations.
  • To evaluate tap water as a cost-effective and practical alternative for wound irrigation.

Main Methods:

  • A randomized, blinded crossover study was conducted in a rat model.
  • Full-thickness skin lacerations were created and inoculated with Staphylococcus aureus.
  • Wounds were irrigated with either tap water or sterile saline for 4 minutes.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Bacterial counts were determined from tissue samples pre- and post-irrigation.

    • Main Results:

    • Pre-irrigation bacterial counts were similar between tap water and saline groups.
    • Tap water irrigation resulted in a significantly greater mean reduction in bacterial count (80.6%) compared to sterile saline (54.7%).
    • The difference in bacterial reduction was statistically significant (p < 0.05).

    Conclusions:

    • Tap water irrigation is at least as efficacious as sterile saline for bacterial decontamination of simple lacerations in this animal model.
    • Tap water irrigation demonstrated improved bacterial removal compared to saline.
    • Tap water offers a potentially cheaper and less labor-intensive option for wound irrigation, especially in resource-limited settings.