Treatment of gunshot wounds by excision and primary suture.

Gray revived débridement of wounds, with primary suture. This procedure has been traditionally credited to Larrey and Desault. Larrey (No. 2160) employed excision and primary suture only for treatment of wounds of the mouth which might otherwise result in a salivary fistula. However, Larrey, and his predecessor, Desault, “both treated extremity wounds by incision, as needed, to relieve tissue tension and establish free wound drainage, not by wound excision and primary suture” (Fackler).