D Dosseh Ékoué, A Doleaglenou, Y-K Fortey, A-E Ayite Objective: to see whether there was a difference in therisk of local infection for surgical wounds in a tropical settingdepending on whether a wound was dressed or left open beyond 48hours post-operatively.
Method: Over a four month period, 102 patients undergoingintra-abdominal surgery classified as clean or clean-contaminatedwere randomized into two equal groups. The "with dressing" groupunderwent a wound dressing change and re-application every two days.In the "without dressing" group, the wound wasleft open to the air after a first dressing change at 48 hours.
Results: There was no difference in post-operative temperaturecurve; post-operative wound infection rate was 2% in eachgroup. Suture removal was performed two days earlier in the "withoutdressing" group and hospital stay was decreased by twodays. The expense of repeated dressing changes was also lessened.
Conclusion: There is no benefit to leaving a wound dressingin place longer than 48 hours after surgery; costs related to prolongedhospitalization and expenses of dressing changes are decreased bya policy of leaving incisions undressed after 48 hours.
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