"Sir, this patient's wound has gaped. The slough is just not going away" my Registrar told me.
"Have we finished her course of antibiotics?" I asked.
"Yes, Sir."
"I will look at it" I said. When I looked, I was surprised to find something oily inside the wound.
"What are you applying to it?" I asked.
"We put liquid paraffin on the floor, and povidone-iodine on the sides of the wound" she said.
"Liquid paraffin?" I was surprised. "What is the rationale in the use of liquid paraffin?"
"Sir, it is like glycerine. It absorbas water and reduces edema around the wound."
"That is not possible. It is a product of petroleum. It is not miscible with water."
"Um... it stimulates formation of granulation tissue" she said.
"It is inert. How will it stimulate anything?" I asked.
"...."
"When you coat the surface with this oil, the antiseptic cream will be kept away from the wound surface" I said. "You are actually harming the patient."
"....."
"Is it sterile?" I asked. "Let us look at the bottle. So she looked at the bottle and handed it over to me reluctantly. I also looked at the bottle.
"It just says liquid paraffin" I said. "It does not say the contents are sterile. It does not even say 'sterilized by so and so method'. The contents are not sterile. You are dressing her wound with unsterile substance, which does not have any medicinal property to promote clearing of the infection or healing of the wound."
"....."
"It is as it came from an oil well" I said. "It contains bacteria which you can call Petrococcus arabia, Petrococcus irania, Petrobacillus iraqa, or Petrobacillus canadia, depending on where the oil well is situated."
"No, Sir."
"The names are fictitious. But I suggest you get microbiological tests done. You could write a paper on it. You will be famous."
"No, Sir."
"Have we finished her course of antibiotics?" I asked.
"Yes, Sir."
"I will look at it" I said. When I looked, I was surprised to find something oily inside the wound.
"What are you applying to it?" I asked.
"We put liquid paraffin on the floor, and povidone-iodine on the sides of the wound" she said.
"Liquid paraffin?" I was surprised. "What is the rationale in the use of liquid paraffin?"
"Sir, it is like glycerine. It absorbas water and reduces edema around the wound."
"That is not possible. It is a product of petroleum. It is not miscible with water."
"Um... it stimulates formation of granulation tissue" she said.
"It is inert. How will it stimulate anything?" I asked.
"...."
"When you coat the surface with this oil, the antiseptic cream will be kept away from the wound surface" I said. "You are actually harming the patient."
"....."
"Is it sterile?" I asked. "Let us look at the bottle. So she looked at the bottle and handed it over to me reluctantly. I also looked at the bottle.
"It just says liquid paraffin" I said. "It does not say the contents are sterile. It does not even say 'sterilized by so and so method'. The contents are not sterile. You are dressing her wound with unsterile substance, which does not have any medicinal property to promote clearing of the infection or healing of the wound."
"....."
"It is as it came from an oil well" I said. "It contains bacteria which you can call Petrococcus arabia, Petrococcus irania, Petrobacillus iraqa, or Petrobacillus canadia, depending on where the oil well is situated."
"No, Sir."
"The names are fictitious. But I suggest you get microbiological tests done. You could write a paper on it. You will be famous."
"No, Sir."
