We still reach for normal saline to cleanse wounds

But do we need to?

A 2025 meta-analysis reviewed:

12 trials
3,330 patients
3,352 wounds

Wound infection did not differ significantly between tap water and normal saline. RR 0.78 95% CI 0.59–1.03

Then the researchers showed clinicians the evidence.
Many still remained unwilling to use tap water.

That may be the most interesting finding of all.

How much of wound care is evidence and how much is habit?

Reference

Shih, P. R., Huang, Y. T., Tam, K. W., Chou, Y. Y., & Hu, M. C. (2025). Choosing Wisely: Evidence-Based Support for the Efficacy and Safety of Tap Water Versus Normal Saline for Wound Cleansing. World journal of surgery, 49(10), 2742–2751. https://lnkd.in/di6NUznp