Exam 2: Lecture 12: Open Wound Management Flashcards
When should wounds be covered with a clean, dry bandage?
-Immediately after injury
-When the animal is brought for treatment
What should happen before further wound management than a clean, dry bandage is taken?
-Life-threatening injuries should be treated & the animal’s condition stabilized
What are the 9 fundamentals of wound management?
- Temporarily cover the wound to prevent further trauma & contamination
- Assess the traumatized animal & stabilize its condition
- Clip & aseptically prepare the area around the wound
- Culture the wound
- Debride dead tissue & remove foreign debris from wound
- Lavage wound thoroughly
- Provide wound drainage
- Promote healing by stabilizing & protecting cleaned wound
- Perform appropriate wound closure
What should happen to open or superficial wounds when appropriate during stabilization?
-Bandages should be removed
-Wound assessed & classified
How are wounds classified?
-Contaminated or Infected vs. Class 1-3
-Type of wound
What is the “Golden Period” when talking about wounds?
-First 6-8 hours between wound contamination at injury & bacterial multiplication to greater than 10^5 CFU per gram of tissue
When is a wound classified as infected rather than contaminated?
A wound is classified as infected rather than contaminated when bacterial numbers exceed 10^5 CFU per gram of tissue
How do infected wounds look?
-Often grossly dirty & covered with a thick, viscous exudate
What is contamination?
-Presence of microbes on a surface
What is colonization?
-Surface microorganisms are replicating
What is infection?
-Invasion & replication of microbes within the tissue
How do we calculate microbial burden?
-(Number of microorganisms x virulence) / Host resistance
What are the 3 main wound classifications?
-Class 1
-Class 2
-Class 3
What is Class 1 wound contamination?
-0-6 hours old
-Minimal contamination & tissue trauma
What is Class 2 wound contamination?
-6-12 hours old
-Microbial levels may not have reached critical level consistent with development of infection
What is Class 3 wound contamination?
-Older than 12 hours
-Microbial levels may have reached critical level consistent w/ development of infection
What are the different types of wounds?
-Abrasion
-Puncture wound
-Laceration
-Avulsion or Degloving Injury
-Thermal burn
-Decubital Ulcers
What are abrasions?
-Superficial & involve destruction of varying depths of skin by friction from blunt trauma or shearing forces
-Sensitive to pressure or touch & bleed minimally
How do abrasions heal?
-Heal rapidly by re-epithelialization
What are puncture wounds?
-Characterized by small skin opening with deep tissue contamination & damage
-Wound depth & width vary depending on object creating wound
The extent of tissue damage caused by puncture wounds is directly proportional to
-Missile velocity
What can be embedded in puncture wounds?
-Pieces of hair, skin, & debris
What are the mechanisms of injury for puncture wounds?
-Penetrating foreign objects (ex: stick, wire, bone)
-Bite wounds
-Gunshot injuries
What type of wound is shown?
-Puncture wound