What type of wound healing occurs when a surgical incision is left open and packed with iodoform gauze?

Wound healing that involves leaving a surgical incision open and packing it with iodoform gauze is classified as secondary intention healing. This type of healing occurs when the edges of the wound cannot be brought together, either due to infection, tissue loss, or the nature of the incision itself. In secondary intention, the wound heals from the bottom up, with granulation tissue forming over time as the body fills in the wound. The packing with iodoform gauze helps to absorb exudate and maintain a moist environment, which can promote healing.

This is distinct from primary intention, where the wound edges are brought together (such as in suturing), and from tertiary intention, which involves delaying closure of a wound to allow for drainage or infection control, followed by suturing later on. Granulation intention is not a recognized term in wound healing classification; it may refer to the granulation tissue that forms during the healing process, but it is not a type of healing strategy. Thus, secondary intention aptly describes the healing process of the open wound packed with iodoform gauze.