Wounds caused by teeth, fangs or stings.
Causes
- Animals (e.g. dogs, snakes), humans or insects
Clinical features
- Depend on the cause
General management
First aid
- Immediately clean the wound thoroughly with plenty of clean water and soap to remove any dirt or foreign bodies
- Stop excessive bleeding by applying pressure where necessary
- Rinse the wound and allow to dry
- Apply an antiseptic: Chlorhexidine solution 0.05% or Povidone iodine solution 10%
Supportive therapy
- Treat anaphylactic shock
- Treat swelling if significant as necessary, using ice packs or cold compresses
- Give analgesics prn
- Reassure and immobilise the patient
Antibiotics
- Give only for infected or high-risk wounds including:
- Moderate to severe wounds with extensive tissue damage
- Very contaminated wounds
- Deep puncture wounds (especially by cats)
- Wounds on hands, feet, genitalia or face
- Wounds with underlying structures involved
- Wounds in immunocompromised patients
- See next sections on wound management, human and animal bites for more details
Tetanus prophylaxis
- Give TT immunisation (tetanus toxoid, TT 0.5
ml) if not previously immunised within the last 10 years
Caution
- Do not suture bite wounds