Clinical Outcome of Non-occlusive Versus Occlusive Dressing in Postoperative Sutured Wounds

• Main Authors: Dinesh Kumar, Amol Daniel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: JCDR Research and Publications Private Limited 2017-10-01
• Series: Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research
• Subjects: Wound dehiscence; Wound infection; Wound management
• Online Access: http://jcdr.net/articles/PDF/10798/31721_CE(RA1)_F(T)_PF1(PB_AP)_PFA(MJ_SS).pdf

Introduction: The main objective of dressing wounds is to prevent wound infections. Successful wound management depends on an understanding of the healing process combined with knowledge of the properties of the various dressings available. Wounds can heal primarily, secondarily, or by delayed primary closure. The method of dressing includes occlusive and non-occlusive dressing. Aim: To evaluate the clinical outcome of non-occlusive versus occlusive dressings in postoperative sutured wounds. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective study done on 298 patients over a period of one and half years from 1st January 2012 to 30th June 2013. All elective inpatients with sutured wounds in the Department of General Surgery requiring local wound care postoperatively were included in this study. The patients were divided into two groups according to the type of dressing used i.e., occlusive or non-occlusive. The results obtained were statistically analysed by student t-test and Chisquare test. Results: In our study, we found that wound infection and wound dehiscence were noted more in non-occlusive dressing group as compared to occlusive dressing group. We also found that mean cost of dressing, frequency of dressing changes, the pain during dressing change, mean duration of hospital stay for nonocclusive dressing was more than occlusive dressing. Conclusion: After a careful review of current study on wound management and type of dressing, it is evident that occlusive dressing had better clinical outcomes as compared to nonocclusive dressing.