CHAPTER XII. 



FLESH WOUNDS. 



Incised wounds, Lacerated wounds, Punctured wounds, Contused wounds, 

 Wounds of the abdomen, Frostbite, Burns, Scalds, Poisoned wounds, The Stings 

 of Insects, The Poison of Snakes, Acids and Alkalies. 



Definition. — A flesh wound is a solution of continuity in tlio soft 

 parts, suddenly produced by violence. 



Common flesh wounds may be divided into Incised, Lacerated, Punc- 

 tured, and Contused. 



An Incised Woukd 



is made by some sharp, clean cutting instrument, and there is no tearing 

 or contusion of the parts. If the wound is in line with the muscular 

 fibres, it will not gape much and can easily be kept together. If, how- 

 ever, it is across the muscles, the natural retraction will cause the Avound 

 to gape open, and in the recess thus formed blood and pus may collect 

 and retard the healing. 



Lacerated Wounds are usually more or less contused also. The skin 

 IS broken and torn by the contusion, and its edges are ragged and uneven. 

 Lacerated wounds may be simply an abrasion of the skin, or they may 

 involve deeper structures; the range being from a simple scratch or 

 scrape to the forcible tearing off of the horny part of the foot or a deep cut 

 from falling upon a sharp stone, and its gravity, of course, varies in the 

 same degree. Punctured wounds are produced by the penetration of a 

 sharp or blunt pointed instrument into the tissue, usually to a depth dis- 

 proportionate to the aperture of entrance. Punctured wounds are the 

 most dangerous of all wounds, and for the reasons that, from their depth, 

 they are liable to implicate arteries, nerves, veins, viscera, and deep-seated 



