It seems like if you pack a wound it would prevent the wound from closing and would keep it open.
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I had a very bad wound that was deep and wide.
The doctors told me that it’s much better to let it heal from the *deepest* part first, and not to sew the surface shut right away. Let it “fill in from the bottom”, if you will.
If the packing is not too tight, then it will allow this to happen.
If you just sew the surface shut, you may be trapping bacteria in there.
The packing also has a wicking effect, and keeps the pus from pooling in the wound, and allows you to remove that seepage regularly.
If you suture a wound closed, bacteria, fluid, blood can get trapped inside and have no way to get out. Packing a wound allows the wound to heal from the inside out and the packing material can soak up blood and fluids that would have otherwise been trapped under the skin.
Imagine how the body evolved to heal wounds. There were no sutures etc when animals evolved our healing mechanisms. We are meant to heal from the inside out. If it’s a very clean incision, it can be sutured, but many wounds are better left to heal “naturally.”
Doc here. Look up “healing by secondary intention”, which is basically allowing for deeper wounds to hear from the deepest parts outward to the skin. If you close a large wound you are liable to develop a cavernous area that fills with fluid called a Seroma. It is something that is very easily infected and can lead to a chronic non-healing wound.
Good question
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