INTRODUCTION Emergency department manages several kinds of wounds including simple, non-bite traumatic wounds and lacerations. Prophylactic antibiotic therapy is one of pre-scribed treatment in these conditions. We aimed to compare the clinical efficacy of the two day regimen of prophylactic antimicrobial agents with the five day regimen in simple traumatic but highly contaminated wounds. MET...

BACKGROUND We surveyed a population of injection drug users (IDUs) frequenting the mobile Baltimore City Needle Exchange Program (BNEP) to investigate self-care factors associated with chronic wounds, a significant cause of morbidity especially among older IDUs. METHODS Participants ≥18 years old completed a survey regarding chronic wounds (duration ≥8 weeks), injection and hygiene practices....

Gunshot wounds are traumatic events that emergency departments around the country treat on a daily basis. An increasing number of these wounds are being caused by air rifles that shoot ball bearings (ie, BB guns) and, although uncommon, the results can be fatal. The general public and most practitioners may not realize the damage these "toys" can inflict. This article highlights an unfortunate ...

Diabetic foot wounds represent a class of chronic non-healing wounds that can lead to the development of soft tissue infections and osteomyelitis. We reviewed the case of a 44-year-old female with a diabetic foot wound who developed gas gangrene while treating her wound with tea tree oil, a naturally derived antibiotic agent. This case report includes images that represent clinical examination ...

Copyright © 2008 Massachusetts Medical Society. In 2005, 11.8 million wounds were treated in emergency departments in the United States.1 More than half a million burns and 7.3 million lacerations are treated annually,2 and wounds caused by cutting or piercing instruments are responsible for an additional 2 million outpatient visits each year.3 The number of Americans who are bitten by an anima...

A significant tornado passed through the Oklahoma City metropolitan area on May 3,1999. This study was undertaken at St Michael Hospital (Oklahoma City, Okla) to describe the impact on a community hospital's emergency department close to the tornado strike zone. Cases were defined as patients receiving diagnostic procedures, care, and interventions at the study hospital's emergency department f...

Background: Abdominal wound dehiscence is a common complication of emergency laparotomy in Indian setup. It’s prevention is important to reduce post operative morbidity and mortality Research Hypothesis: The application of interrupted X-sutures reduces the risk of burst in midline laparotomy wounds. Aims: To compare the risks of burst with continuous versus interrupted sutur ing in midline lapa...

Dog bites account for approximately one of 200 emergency room visits. The majority of bites are from dogs known to the victim. Due to the numerous small compartments and the thin covering of soft tissue over the bones and joints, bite wounds to the hand are more likely to become infected that are bites to the arm, leg, or face. Improper management can result in significant morbidity and prolong...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the bacterial cleanliness of tap water in a large accident and emergency (A&E) department for its possible use in the cleansing and irrigation of open traumatic wounds. METHODS Tap water samples were collected from different areas within the department and analysed on two separate occasions for coliforms, S aureus, clostridia, pseudomonas, and beta haemolytic streptoc...