for: Wound (album)

In medicine, a wound is a type of injury in which skin is torn, cut or punctured (an open wound), or where blunt force trauma causes a contusion (a closed wound). In pathology, it specifically refers to a sharp injury which damages the dermis of the skin.

Types of wounds

Open

Open wounds can be classified according to the object that caused the wound. The types of open wound are:

• Incisions or incised wounds, caused by a clean, sharp-edged object such as a knife, a razor or a glass splinter.
• Lacerations, irregular tear-like wounds caused by some blunt trauma. The term laceration is commonly misused in reference to incisions.
• Abrasions (grazes), superficial wounds in which the topmost layer of the skin (the epidermis) is scraped off. Abrasions are often caused by a sliding fall onto a rough surface.
• Puncture wounds, caused by an object puncturing the skin, such as a nail or needle.
• Penetration wounds, caused by an object such as a knife entering the body.
• Gunshot wounds, caused by a bullet or similar projectile driving into or through the body. There may be two wounds, one at the site of entry and one at the site of exit, such is generally known as a through-and-through.

Closed

Closed wounds have fewer categories, but are just as dangerous as open wounds. The types of closed wounds are:

• Contusions, more commonly known as bruises, caused by blunt force trauma that damages tissue under the skin.
• Hematomas, also called blood tumors, caused by damage to a blood vessel that in turn causes blood to collect under the skin.
• Crushing injuries, caused by a great or extreme amount of force applied over a long period of time.

Healing

To heal a wound, the body undertakes a series of actions collectively known as the wound healing process.

Treatment

Treatment of recent lacerations involves examination, cleaning, and closing the wound. If the laceration occurred some time ago it may be allowed to heal by secondary intention due to the high rate of infection with primary closure.

Cleaning

See: Wound licking For simple lacerations cleaning can be accomplished using a number of different solution including: tap water, sterile normal saline, or an antiseptic solution. Tap water has been found to be as good as, or better than, sterile saline. Tap water is less expensive, can be done by the patient themselves, and leads to equally low rates of infection.