How Do You Treat a Laceration?

Simply stated, a laceration is a cut or tear through the full thickness of the skin, for which a sharp object is often but not necessarily responsible. Lacerations may be clean incisions, as if made with a sharp blade, but they can also be irregular, exten-sively bruised, and contaminated with dirt and debris. Dirty lacerations are likely to become infected. Bleeding is more promi-nent from lacerations than from abrasions.

Treatment for Laceration

The first step in treatment, again, is cleansing; all foreign matter and dead tissue should be removed.

Excessive bleeding can usually be controlled by local pressure, for which the wound edges should be pushed together and com-pressed tightly against deeper tissues. Clean cloth is preferable, but fingers will do if nothing else is available; pressure should be sustained until bleeding is slowed or stopped altogether. Blood from the wound should not be dabbed repeatedly with the cloth as this can lead to significant blood loss, especially from the scalp. The elevation of bleeding extremities may be helpful. If an artery is severed, the fingers are used to compress the artery at a pressure point above the wound, with tourniquets used as a last resort.

Medical care should be sought for all but minor lacerations. Irri-gation with sterile solutions, suturing, tetanus prophylaxis, and sometimes antibiotics may be necessary. Superficial lacerations that are not gaping may require only taping or sterile dressings. If one is unsure about handling such wounds, he should consult a physician.

The role of prevention is not prominent, since lacerations are usually the result of accidental injuries.