Expert: Curtis J. Edwards, MD, FACS - 5/25/2007

Question
I have a 4 inch cut on my knee that is almost to the joint in depth.  I have had it closed with stitches and staples many times due to it reopening.  Now the skin is so tough that the stitches wont hold the cut together.  I am going to go to the ER what are they going to do to me?

Answer
The wound can be treated by keeping it clean and letting it heal in by secondary intention.  Long before stitches, early man would get wounds that healed if they did not become infected and the infection spread.  The technique is simple: shower into the wound everyday using regular soap and water. Follow this with placing a sterile saline moistened gauze dressing into the wound and covering this with a dry sterile dressing and tape. The wound will heal from the inside out, eventually contracting and forming a sturdy scar.