What Causes Yellowish Discharge At The Wound Site After Leg Injury?

Posted on Thu, 31 Aug 2017

Question: I fell off an electric bike 4 days ago and scrapped my knee and shin. The wounds seem to have a watery slightly yellowish discharge and the wound on my knee has an off white goo forming. Is this normal? Do I have an infection?

Answered by Dr. Lekshmi Rita Venugopal (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
The wound seems infected, management detailed below

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thank you for trusting HealthcareMagic for your health concerns,

I have gone through your query and the picture attached.

The wound seems infected in your case.

Management of the infected wound is detailed below--

-Keep the area clean and dry
-Use antibacterial soap and water to clean
-Apply Mupirocin ointment and cover the wound with a gauze dressing.
-Change dressing every 12 hours for first 2-3 days followed by every 24 hours.
If the dressing gets wet, change the dressing immediately.
- You can take Tylenol for pain.

If you do not notice any decrease in discharge in 2 days, then oral antibiotics like Clindamycin is needed(which will require a prescription).

Hope this answers your questions
Please feel free to address further questions here
Regards
Dr.Lekshmi

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee