How Do I Cleanse Venous Wounds With Saline Water & Silver Dressings?

Venous wounds result from chronic venous insufficiency disease (CVI) when veins are unable to pump out fluid. Wounds develop typically in the lower leg above the ankle when fluid pools in the legs. Venous wounds may be difficult to treat, may reoccur and are at risk for infection. Use saline to cleanse a wound because saline is safe, effective, readily available and inexpensive, according to the American Pediatric Surgical Nurses Association. Silver impregnated dressings on wounds lower the topical bacterial load and provide broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties, according to PodiatryToday.

Things You'll Need

• Two sterile or clean pads
• Medical gloves
• Saline
• Sterile gauze
• Silver dressing
• Rolled gauze secondary dressing
• Tape

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Instructions

Preparation

• 1

  Lay out two sterile or clean pads on a flat surface.

• 2

  Remove the cap from the saline bottle and set the saline aside. Open the silver dressing and all gauze dressings by grasping the package ends and pulling apart without touching the dressing. Turn the package over and let the dressings fall onto one of the clean pads.

• 3

  Place the leg with the wound on the second clean pad.

• 4

  Put on medical gloves.

Treatment

• 5

  Pick up saline bottle and pour over venous wound until all tissue is wet. Blot wound with clean gauze pad until wound is dry.

• 6

  Place silver dressing on wound so that the dressing is in contact against the wound bed.

• 7

  Roll a clean piece of gauze over the silver dressing to keep the dressing in place. Apply tape to secure.