Cuts, Scrapes and Skin Lacerations
Q: How do I know when I should bring my child to the doctor when he gets a cut?
Affinity's medical expert is Dr. Stephen Cruz, a board-certified family medicine physician providing Urgent Care services at the Affinity Medical Group Clinic at 3329 N. Richmond St., Appleton.
A: Abrasions are superficial wounds or scrapes on the skin’s surface. These do not require closure. They only require cleaning with soap and water, and adequate coverage with Bacitracin and a bandage.
Wounds that require closure by a physician are ones that penetrate the superficial skin into the deeper tissues, ones that gape open, are located on a joint, on areas with increased skin tension, or that are actively bleeding. Typically for a wound that requires stitches, you will see a deep cut that exposes tissue, bone or any protruding fat.
Wound closure by a doctor also can restore normal appearance and under some circumstances, minimize patient discomfort and prevent infection. You may also want to see a physician when you have a laceration so that you can get a tetanus shot, or to make sure the wound shows no signs of infection. Signs of an infected wound include fever, redness, green discharge, tenderness, red streaking or a pus pocket.
Once you see a physician and it is determined that the wound will need to be closed, the physician will present some options. It may be closed with sutures that generally will require a return visit in one to two weeks to have them removed. It may also be closed with a special wound glue or steri-strips that eliminate the need for sutures, but will be at the discretion of the physician to determine the most appropriate form of closure.
