Podcast 841: Wound Care

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Wound care in the emergency department aims to prevent future infection Copious wound irrigation is the important step in preventing wound infection Studies have shown that irrigation with tap water is just as effective, if not superior,  to  irrigation with saline or other solutions Several studies have shown no reduction in wound infection rates when using sterile gloves during wound care Recent study in the Netherlands compared infection rates between patients undergoing wound repair with and without sterile gloves Receiving wound care with nonsterile gloves was noninferior to wound care utilizing sterile gloves References Fernandez R, Griffiths R. Water for wound cleansing. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. Feb 15 2012;(2):Cd003861. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD003861.pub3 Heckmann N, Simcox T, Kelley D, Marecek GS. Wound Irrigation for Open Fractures. JBJS Rev. Jan 2020;8(1):e0061. doi:10.2106/jbjs.Rvw.19.00061 Zwaans JJM, Raven W, Rosendaal AV, et al. Non-sterile gloves and dressing versus sterile gloves, dressings and drapes for suturing of traumatic wounds in the emergency department: a non-inferiority multicentre randomised controlled trial. Emerg Med J. Sep 2022;39(9):650-654. doi:10.1136/emermed-2021-211540   Summarized by Mark O’Brien, MS4 | Edited by John Spartz, MD, & Erik Verzemnieks, MD   The Emergency Medical Minute is excited to announce that we are now offering AMA PRA Category 1 credits™ via online course modules. To access these and for more information, visit our website at https://emergencymedicalminute.org/cme-courses/ and create an account.