A Simple Guide to Laceration

A Simple Guide to Laceration
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What is a laceration?
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A laceration is an injury to the skin and its underlying soft tissue when you are cut or hit by something.
A laceration is usually called a cut when the injury is caused by a sharp object breaking the skin. It may a clean cut without bleeding or if it damages the blood vessels in the skin, it can cause visible bleeding.
Lacerations can occur at any part of the body.
Healing time for a laceration depends on where it is on your body.
A laceration usually take longer to heal if it is over a joint such as the knee or elbow.

What are the signs and symptoms of a laceration?
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1.Lacerations may appear in all shapes and sizes.

2.It may look like a cut, tear, or gash.

3.The wound may hurt, bleed, bruise, or swell.

4.Lacerations may bleed a lot in areas of the skin which has a lot of blood vessels such as the scalp.

5.The wound may have edges that are close together, or gaping apart.

6.Sometimes there may be numbness around the wound due to a cut of the nerve endings.

7.Similarly there may be decreased movement in an area below the wound due to loss of nerve endings or tear of muscle fibres.

What are the complications arising from a laceration?
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Even with proper treatment, a laceration can become infected:

1.Increased warmth to the area.

2.Redness or swelling to the area which becomes worse.

3.Pain in the area that increases over time.

4. pus or bad-smelling discharge from the wound.
Pus is milky and may be white, yellow, green, or brown.
It is the result of the white blood cells fighting the bacteria or virus.

Other complications may be:

1.the presence of foreign bodies

2.Injury to the bone( fracture)

3.Injury to the nerve

4.Injury to the blood vessels

5.Injury to muscles

What investigations may be necessary in Laceration?
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If there is suspected foreign objects in your laceration, an x-ray may be required.

Foreign objects include things like metal, gravel, and glass.

If you have many wounds from a car accident, tests may include an ultrasound, a MRI, or a CT scan.

What is the treatment for a laceration?
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The doctor will want to
1.control the bleeding if your wound is bleeding a lot.

2.clean the wound with disinfectant.
This will remove dirt and other small objects and reduce the chance of infection.

3.look in the wound for foreign objects like dust, metal or glass splinters.

4.explore (probe) or close the wound under local anesthesia.
An anesthetic is a medicine which numbs the area so that there is no pain during the probe or surgery.

Closing the wound:
The laceration may need stitches, staples, other treatments to close the wound:
1.if it is deep or bleeds a lot.
2.if your wound is gaping open or
3.if the wound is in an area that moves a lot, such as the hands, feet, and joints.

Stitches also keep the wound from getting infected.
Stitches may decrease the amount of scarring.

If the wound is too old, it can not be stitched.
Some lacerations may heal better without stitches.

Special care:
Some lacerations need special care.
Laceration caused by bites from fish or marine life may need special medicines like antibiotics and antitoxins.
Antibiotics are not needed for most wounds.
Antibiotics are given if your wound has a high risk of infection.

If the laceration injure a bone, nerves, or blood vessels, there may be need for microsurgery to join the torn nerve or blood vessel.
A broken bone may also need to be treated conservatively or with surgery.

Tetanus injection:
Tetanus infection, or "lockjaw," can happen after any deep break in your skin. Tetanus can kill you. It is important for adults to get a tetanus shot at least every 10 years.
After an injury, a tetanus injection may be given if:
1. it has been longer than five years since your last one.
2.any wound that may have dirt or saliva in it.
3.Deep wounds also have a high risk for tetanus infection.

If necessary, tetanus injection should be given as soon as possible (within 72 hours of the injury).

What are the risks in the care of laceration?
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A sharp object which passed through your clothing before cutting your skin may have caused small threads or bits of clothing to be pushed under your skin.
The risk of getting an infection is higher if there are foreign bodies in the wound.
Sometime even with the best care, there may still problems such as infection with your wound.
People who have diabetes have a higher chance of getting a serious infection in a wound.