Surgical wounds are typically classified based on their level of contamination:
Clean Wounds: These are made under sterile conditions and do not involve entering any body cavity that harbors bacteria. Clean-Contaminated Wounds: These involve entering body cavities such as the respiratory, gastrointestinal, or genitourinary tracts under controlled conditions. Contaminated Wounds: These involve open, traumatic wounds or incisions in which there is a major break in sterile technique. Infected Wounds: These are old traumatic wounds with retained dead tissue or those that involve existing clinical infection or perforated viscera.
