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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Is Antitetanus Injection Essential For Minor Bleeding Wound ?

I had a wooden splinter on my left ankle, I was sitting at a wooden deck next to a ferry stop place, then when I want to get up my left ankle scraped on the wooden deck and a wood splinter got in my ankle. It didn t went in vertically but went in horizontally across the skin. Here s a pic of the wound after I manage to take the bigger piece out : http://a64.tinypic.com/14dmzc3.jpg It only bleed a little after I took the big piece out, and as you can see there s still smaller pieces left in there so I went to a doctor, the doctor manage to take all the pieces out with local anesthetic. The doctor open up the wound and there was some bleeding happening, the wound it s now covered with a gauze. I asked the doctor whether there is any risk of tetanus, as I haven t had a tetanus shot in more than 10 years (in fact I don t think I ve ever had one?), as I don t like the idea of having vaccination and their possible side effects. The doctor said it should be fine without one as it s not a deep puncture and the wooden deck doesn t have any rust etc. but I would like to ask for a second opinion as I m quite worried about tetanus.
Mon, 30 Jan 2017
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General Surgeon 's  Response
Hi,
Thanks for using HCM.
I have gone through your query and i am of the opinion that it is always better to take vaccine even though the chances of developing tetanus is less.Because tetanus is rare but a fatal disease and no effective treatments are available.
Coming to your case, the chances of developing tetanus is very less,but I would suggest to take the vaccine.
Since you are not sure about the tetanus shots you had in the childhood,you may require full course of TT vaccine.That means you should receive three doses with in six months.
Hope this helps.

Thank you.
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Is Antitetanus Injection Essential For Minor Bleeding Wound ?

Hi, Thanks for using HCM. I have gone through your query and i am of the opinion that it is always better to take vaccine even though the chances of developing tetanus is less.Because tetanus is rare but a fatal disease and no effective treatments are available. Coming to your case, the chances of developing tetanus is very less,but I would suggest to take the vaccine. Since you are not sure about the tetanus shots you had in the childhood,you may require full course of TT vaccine.That means you should receive three doses with in six months. Hope this helps. Thank you.