A malignant wound (e.g. a neck mass/lymph node) may erode into a major blood vessel and cause severe bleeding
If a patient has a deep wound near a major blood vessel it is essential to have emergency injections (e.g. morphine and midazolam) available to calm the patient and stabilise the situation.
It is good practice to gently explore this with the patient and carer. They can be reassured that major bleeding is very rare.
For superficial wound bleeds
- Tranexamic acid 500mg/5ml Ampule for injection should be soaked into gauze and applied with pressure for 10 mins
- Adrenaline 1:1000 soaked on gauze to be used in the same way
- Kaltostat wound dressing is the best option for an oozing wound
Having dark coloured towels available to mop up bleeding can reduce distress.
Haemostatic sprays and Celox hamostatic granules are proving very effective for constantly bleeding wounds which do not respond to the above treatments.