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Previous Volume 337:1142-1148 October 16, 1997 Number 16 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Each year in the United States, more than 12 million traumatic wounds are treated in emergency departments.¹ When nonemergency or elective incisions are included, approximately 90 million skin-suturing procedures are performed each year.² Traumatic lacerations occur most often in young men, typically on the face, scalp, and hands.³ More than 50 percent of all lacerations are caused by blunt injury that produces shear forces, and most others by sharp objects, such as metal, glass, and wood.^3,4 Only a minority of wounds are caused by mammalian or nonmammalian bites.³

The ultimate goals of wound management are to avoid infection and achieve . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Evaluation of Patients

Examination of the Wound

Wound Preparation

Anesthesia

Hair Removal

Irrigation

Débridement

Wound Closure

Postoperative Care

Future Prospects

Source Information

From the Department of Emergency Medicine, State University of New York, Stony Brook (A.J.S.); the Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (J.E.H.); and the Section of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (J.V.Q.).

Address reprint requests to Dr. Singer at the Department of Emergency Medicine, University Medical Center, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8350.

References

Related Letters:

Management of Traumatic Lacerations
Spencer J. M., Deitchman S., Jagger J., Kaufman J. L., Kaiser C. W., Karpinski R. H.S., Singer A. J., Hollander J. E., Quinn J. V.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1998; 338:474-476, Feb 12, 1998. Correspondence

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