In general, wound cleansing with an irrigation solution (your method) is done to decrease bacterial counts in the tissues without causing damage to healthy granulation tissue. Using a saline moistened gauze to blot (or even rub) cellular debris off the wound surface would do exactly that - decrease surface contaminants. Those are not the bacteria that are causing problems in the wound. Bacteria that are present IN THE TISSUES are the ones with which we need to be concerned. The alternative methods you describe will clean the wound surface, but have not been shown to decrease contamination within the tissues.
03/19/2005 11:31 AM
lottapups
Posts: 5
I am an RN working in the homecare environment. We see many patients with the usual gambit of wounds and in researching wound care I've come across much info regarding wound identification, prevention, treatment, etc., but I'm coming up short in information regarding cleansing wounds. I've read in the past that when performing daily wound dressing changes the best procedure for cleansing a wound is to use an 18 gage blunt catheter to irrigate with normal saline. Is this still the best plan of care, or have we moved on to other ways of cleansing a wound. I have seen other nurses using a NS soaked gauze pad and wiping the wound to remove slough. Is this acceptable practice? Thank you for any info you can supply.
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