Body wounds

- are caused by trauma or skin breakdown. Wounds are considered to be

acute wounds if they are new. Wounds are considered to be chronic if they are
more than 3-4 weeks old.
Types of Body Wounds:
 Intentional wounds – occur during therapy. Examples are operations or
venipunctures.
 Unintentional wounds – are accidental. Example is a person with a
fractured arm due to an automobile collision.
Types according to likelihood and degree of contamination:
 Clean wounds – uninfected wounds in which there is minimal inflammation
and the respiratory, gastrointestinal, genital and urinary tracts are not
entered. They are primarily closed wounds.
 Clean-contaminated wounds – surgical wounds where the respiratory,
gastrointestinal, genital, or urinary tract has been entered. Such wounds
show no evidence of infection.
 Contaminated wounds – open, fresh, accidental wounds and surgical
wounds involving a major break in sterile technique or a large amount of
spillage from the gastrointestinal tract. They show evidence of
inflammation.
 Dirty or infected wounds – include wounds containing dead tissue and
wounds with evidence of a clinical infection, such as purulent drainage.
Wounds can be open or closed. Open wounds have exposed body tissue in
the base of the wound. Closed wounds have damage that occurs without
exposing the underlying body tissue. Wounds can originate from external causes
such as penetrating objects or blunt trauma, or internal causes such as immune,
metabolic, and neurologic etiologies.
Open Wound Types
 Penetrating wounds:
o Puncture wounds - caused by an object that punctures and
penetrates the skin (e.g. knife, splinter, needle, nail)
 o Surgical wounds and Incisions - wounds caused by clean, sharp
objects such as a knife, razor, or piece of sharp glass
o Thermal, chemical, or electrical burns
o Bites and stings
o Gunshot wounds or other high velocity projectile which penetrates
the body (this may have one wound at site of entry and another at
site of exit)
 Blunt trauma wounds:
o Abrasions - superficial wounds due to the top layer of skin being
traumatically removed (e.g. fall or slide on a rough surface).
o Lacerations - wounds that are linear and regular in shape from sharp
cuts, to irregularly shaped tears from trauma.
o Skin tears - can be chronic like a wound in the base of a skin fissure,
or acute due to trauma and friction.
Closed Wound Types
 Contusions - blunt trauma causing pressure damage to the skin and / or
underlying tissues (includes bruises)
 Blisters - fluid filled pockets under the skin
 Seroma - a fluid filled area that develops under the skin or body tissue
(commonly occur after blunt trauma or surgery)
 Hematoma - a blood filled area that develops under the skin or body tissue
(occur due to internal blood vessel damage to an artery or vein)
 Crush injuries - can be caused by extreme forces, or lesser forces over a
long period of time.