Wound and Its types

•Wound is defined as a circumscribed injury which causes damage in the structure of the underlying tissues or organs by an external agent or force.
•In other words, wound is the loss of continuity of tissues following an injury or operation.

Types of Wound

Wound can be classified in various ways. Some of its classification are:

I) on the basis of origin of the wound
II) on the basis of contamination of the wound
III) on the basis of depth of wound

I) Origin of the wound

On the basis of origin, wounds are of following types:

A) Mechanical wound
The wound that occurs in any portion of the body from a blow, crush, cut or penetration is called mechanical wound. It is of various types. They are:

i) Abrasions: These are the wound that occur when the skin is rubbed away by friction against another rough surface (e.g., rope burns and skinned knees).
ii) Avulsions: These wounds occur when an entire structure or part of it is forcibly pulled away, such as the loss of a permanent tooth or an ear lobe. Explosions, gunshots and animal bites are examples of avulsions.
iii) Contusions: These are also called bruises that are the result of a forceful trauma that injures an internal structure without breaking the skin. Blows to the chest, abdomen or head with a blunt instrument may result to contusions.
iv) Crush wounds: these wounds occur when a heavy object falls onto a person, splitting the skin and shattering or tearing the underlying structures.
v) Cuts: These are the slicing wounds made with a sharp instrument, leaving even edges. They may be as minimal as a paper cut or as significant as surgical incision.
vi) Lacerations: These are also called tears and are separating wounds that produce ragged edges. They are produced by extreme force against the body either from an internal source as in childbirth or from an external source as a punch.
vii) Missile wounds: These are also known as velocity wounds caused by an object entering the body at a high speed like a bullet.
viii) Punctures: these are the wounds that are deep, narrow produced by sharp objects such as nails, knives, and broken glass.

B) Chemical wounds

These are the wounds that are caused by various chemicals like acid and bases causing damage to any part of the body.

C) Radiation / thermal wounds

Those wounds that are caused by acute or chronic effects of various ionizing radiations are radiation wounds. These are also caused by extreme temperatures that result in thermal injuries like burns, sunburns and frostbite for which the wounds are called thermal wounds.

D) Special wounds

These are the wounds caused generally by toxins and venoms of various forms of life.

II) Contamination of the wound

On the basis of contamination of the wound, wounds are of three types.

i) Clean wound
These are the wounds that are superficial in nature and are caused by uncontaminated sharp objects and do not show signs of infections or inflammation.
ii) Clean -contaminated wound
These are the wounds that may not show any sign of infection but are at an increased risk of becoming infected due to its location.
iii) Contaminated wound
These are the wounds that are caused when our skin comes in contact with outside object and have a high risk of infection.

III) Depth of wound

These are the wounds based on the extent of damage to the body parts. They are:

a) Superficial wounds
These are the wounds only limited to the epidermal layer of the skin.
b) Partial thickness wound
These are the wounds that cause damage to epidermal and dermal layer of the skin.
c) Full thickness wound
These are the wounds that cause damage to epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous fats layer.
d) Deep wound
These are the wounds that occurs deeply causing damage to even bones and various deeper organs of the body.

References: 

i) https://www.makatimed.net.ph/blogs/different-types-of-open-wounds-and-how-to-treat-them/

ii) https://www.healthline.com/health/open-wound

Wound and Its types