Hands are exposed on a daily basis to an incredibly wide range of possible traumatic situations. Any skin break from lacerations, abrasions, bites or crush wounds can introduce bacteria into the hands. Hands can be particularly susceptible to the development of serious infection due to their complex compartmentalized anatomy. Often times, simply placing a patient on oral antibiotics will fail to control a hand infection. Surgical drainage or debridement of an infected wound is often required. Infection secondary to human, dog, cat or venomous insect bites may contain vastly different types of bacteria and respond only to properly chosen antibiotic coverage.
