Contaminated wounds should be thoroughly lavaged with isotonic solutions such as sodium chloride 0.9% solution (Normal saline) or Ringer’s solution. If the wound is less than three hours old, antibacterials in the lavage solution will decrease the occurrence of wound infection. After three hours antibacterials in lavage are no more effective than lavage alone. All gross contamination should be removed if possible but lavage should not be continued excessively as this will cause tissue maceration.