ROLE OF PER-OPERATIVE WOUND IRRIGATION IN PROPHYLAXIS OF SURGICAL SITE INFECTION IN CLEAN CONTAMINATED WOUNDS

Abstract

Objective:

To compare per-operative normal saline wound irrigation prior to closure with conventional simple wound closure without irrigation in terms of development of surgical site infection (SSI) in clean contaminated wounds.

Study Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Surgery, Combined Military Hospital Dera Nawab Sahib, from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016.

Material and Methods:

Group A and group B had 355 patients each. Group A was subjected to per-operative surgical wound irrigation with 300 ml of normal saline prior to skin closure while group B was subjected to conventional simple closure of surgical wound without any kind of wound irrigation. Development of postoperative SSI was checked till 30th post-operative day (POD). A p-value ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results:

Postoperative SSI was comparatively less in group A (4.5%) as compared to group B (10.2%) which was statistically significant (p 0.004).

Conclusion:

Per-operative surgical wound irrigation was found superior to conventional simple wound closure in terms of development of SSI in clean contaminated cases.