Home Doctor: Practical Medicine for Every Household
With clean water or sterile solution, we drop the liquid on the wound for a few seconds. After we do that, we proceed to clean the wound with a sterile gauze or clean cloth. Cotton is not recommended as it leaves a lot of residue that can become contaminated over time. Although solutions such as povidone are not always necessary, this will depend on how dirty the wound is. In my daily practice, I do not use povidone for wounds because it slows down the scarring process. I always prefer alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. If the wound is larger than two inches and looks open, that injury will require stitches.
Stitching a Wound When Asking for Help Is Not an Option Step 1: Stop the Bleeding In order to suture and evaluate the work being done, it is necessary to stop the bleeding from the wound. Once the injury is sutured, the bleeding will stop in 85% or more of the cases. The first measure we should take is to put direct pressure on the wound for at least two minutes or apply ice. Be careful with ice as it can burn the skin. If these measures do not stop the bleeding completely and the wound is in the arms or legs, it is necessary to place a tourniquet to be able to work without problem. The tourniquet is a device used to put external pressure on the blood vessels that are causing the bleeding until the cause is fixed. The Red Cross recommends placing it two inches above the injury. However, if it is placed higher, there will be no further damage to the patient. Although there are special materials for and even professional tourniquets, the truth is that you can improvise with almost anything that can form a loop around the limb where you want to place it. If you have a latex glove, this can serve as a tourniquet. You must place it over the bleeding injury. In the section on the cardiovascular system, we expand on the subject of bleeding. Here we only touch on the topic of tourniquets for moderate bleeding.
Step 2: Prepare What You Need for the Procedure Ideally, you should have professional suture material: either nylon thread, which is what us doctors use to suture the skin, or surgical skin staplers that are very practical, fast, and easy to use. The surgical nylon thread comes with the needle attached. This needle can be straight or curved; the straight one is easier to handle and does not need any special surgical equipment. The stapler comes preloaded and sometimes contains a kit that includes the device to remove the staples once the wound is healed. You can also buy this remover separately if your stapler doesn’t include it. If you do not have any of these materials available, you can use sewing thread and a needle. Be sure to sterilize the needle by placing it over a flame for 30 seconds. Floss is also a strong material and could be an option, although it is a bit thick for what we want to do. You will also need a pair of scissors and sterile gauze or a clean cloth, enough to support the site to be sutured and to clean the wound after the procedure is done. 62
