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The Conversation
Dan Baumgardt, Senior Lecturer, School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol

How to treat a wound – without using superglue, grout or vodka, like some people

Lisbeth Salander Bacteria
Fotos593/Shutterstock

When Mikael Blomkvist is hit by a bullet in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Lisbeth Salander springs to the rescue with a needle and dental floss to sew up his wound. But not before she attempts to sterilise both needle and wound by sloshing them with Swedish vodka. Ouch!

But as an anatomist, dental floss and vodka aren’t the most outlandish wound care solutions I’ve encountered.

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