Interesting Medscape Article:

If you are a memeber:

Drinkable Tap Water May Be Suitable for Wound Cleansing


Summary for those who are not:

"This Cochrane review identified no evidence that using tap water to cleanse acute wounds in adults increases infection and some evidence that it reduces it. For chronic wounds cleansed with tap water vs saline, the RR for infection was 0.16. Tap water vs saline was more effective in reducing the infection rate in adults with acute wounds. For children with acute wounds, infection rates were not statistically significantly different with tap water vs saline. Infection rate for open fractures was not statistically significantly different for cleansing with isotonic saline, distilled water, or boiled water.
Wounds cleansed with tap water vs wounds not cleansed at all did not differ in infection rates, and episiotomy wounds cleansed with water or with procaine spirit did not differ in infection rate."


Pete