Quote Originally Posted by DocMiles
My parents have a 10 year old female that appears to have scratched or had an abcess rupture in the area of her right front nipple. I have cleaned and disinfected the wound and have given combi pen and ivomec. My question is should I close the opening or leave it open? The wound isn't oozing or bleeding and it's not giving off a rancid smell. The tissue appears in good shape, not sloughing off or showing signs of necrotizing. Would it be a good idea to close it or should it be left open and kept clean?
I am not exactly sure what combination of drugs are in "Combi-Pen," however in general, regarding wounds of the flesh, penicillin by itself is not a good "first choice" antibiotic. There are many staph infections that penicillin simply does not cover, and so for that reason cephalexin or Clavamox are better antibiotic choices for festering skin/flesh wounds. If the bacteria causing the infection happens to be covered by the penicillin, then it's as good as anything else, it's just that at least 40% of the potential pathogens that fester in flesh wounds are NOT covered by penicillin ... which means there is a fairly good chance that whatever bacteria is involved might not actually be affected by it. By contrast, the other two drugs I mentioned cover more potential bases than mere penicillin, which is why they're preferable to use in general.

In any event, my own view on wounds is also that they tend to heal better when left open (provided they are adequately tended to).

Regarding tending to them properly, as far as my own experiences go, the best way to treat an infected wound like that (other than the proper antibiotic selection) is with Hot Compresses, the link for which I just blogged about recently.

Good luck!

Jack


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