- #1
- 68,008
- 21,500
Hydrogen peroxide is routinely used for cleaning abrasions and lacerations at athletic events where I work or volunteer. We use 3% H2O2 to help clean and debride the wounds, prior to dressing and bandaging (typically with Telfa non-stick pads and triple-antibiotic ointment).
But I've heard some nurses comment that they don't like using H2O2 on wounds, since it is toxic to cells involved in the wound-healing process, and delays healing. They would prefer to use saline for the cleaning chores.
I did some googling, and found some good articles. This is one (I haven't read the whole article yet):
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1318349/"
I also got an interesting question from a spectator at an event yesterday where I volunteered as an EMT -- "If you had a person with a laceration that was going to be sutured, would you clean it with hydrogen peroxide before suturing?" I think their question came from the cell damage issue raised in the link. Does anybody know the answer? Thanks.
But I've heard some nurses comment that they don't like using H2O2 on wounds, since it is toxic to cells involved in the wound-healing process, and delays healing. They would prefer to use saline for the cleaning chores.
I did some googling, and found some good articles. This is one (I haven't read the whole article yet):
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1318349/"
I also got an interesting question from a spectator at an event yesterday where I volunteered as an EMT -- "If you had a person with a laceration that was going to be sutured, would you clean it with hydrogen peroxide before suturing?" I think their question came from the cell damage issue raised in the link. Does anybody know the answer? Thanks.
Last edited by a moderator: