Abstract:
A wound can be defined as the disturbance of the skin’s
normal structure and function and the soft tissue beneath it.1
Wound complications are major contributors to both early and
late postoperative morbidity.2 It can cause significant physical
and emotional distress to both patients and the treating
physician. Most surgeons will agree that wound
complications can be challenging to treat and everything
possible should be done to prevent it from happening.
Wounds are classified as clean-, clean-contaminated-,
contaminated- or dirty wounds. Clean wounds can be
described as an incision into tissue, other than hollow
viscera, in which neither infection nor inflammation is
present followed by primary closure afterwards. Cleancontaminated
wounds result from intentional entry into the
respiratory, gastro-intestinal, genital or urinary tracts without
remarkable contamination. Contaminated wounds can be
characterized by unintentional entry into a hollow viscus, a
major disruption in sterility, or encountering areas of
nonpurulent inflammation. Dirty wounds include old wounds
with residual devitalised tissue, perforated viscera or current
clinical infection.
