Surgical incision care; Open wound care
What to Expect at HomeAn incision is a "cut" through the skin that is made during surgery. It also called a "surgical wound." Some incisions are small, and others are very long. The size of the incision will depend on the kind of surgery you had.
Do not wear tight clothing that rubs against the incision while it is healing.
Sometimes, a surgical wound will break open (wound dehiscence). This may happen along the entire cut or just part of it. Your doctor may decide not to close it again with sutures, or stitches.
If your doctor does not close your wound again with sutures, you will need to learn how to care for it at home, since it may take time to heal. The wound will heal from the bottom to the top. The dressings help to soak up any drainage and to keep the skin from closing before the wound underneath fills in.
Proper HandwashingIt is important to clean your hands before you change your dressings. You make use an alcohol-based cleaner like Purell, or you may wash your hands using these steps:
Your doctor will tell you how often to change your dressing. Be prepared before starting the dressing change:
Remove the old dressing:
You may use a gauze pad or soft cloth to clean the skin around your wound:
Your doctor may also ask you to irrigate, or wash out, your wound:
Do not put any lotion, cream, or herbal remedies on or around your wound without asking your doctor first.
Putting on the New DressingPlace the clean dressing in the wound as your health care provider taught you to. You may be using a wet-to-dry dressing. See also: Wet to dry dressing changes
Clean your hands when you are finished.
Throw away all the old dressings and other used supplies in a waterproof plastic bag. Close it tightly, then double it before putting it in the trash.
Wash any soiled laundry from the dressing change separately from other laundry. Ask your doctor if you need to add bleach to the wash water.
Use a dressing only once. Never reuse it.
When to Call the DoctorCall your doctor if:
Fonder MA, Lazarus GS, Cowan DA, Aronson-Cook B, Kohli AR, Mamelak AJ. Treating the chronic wound: A practical approach to the care of nonhealing wounds and wound care dressings. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2008 Feb;58(2):185-206.
Reviewed ByReview Date: 06/27/2010
Debra G. Wechter, MD, FACS, General Surgery practice specializing in Breast cancer, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, Washington. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
Changes dressings on wounds (surgical and traumatic), and helps fight infection.
The ICD codes for wound care vary depending on the type of care needed. The base code is V58.4, but there are 4th digit subclassifications that may be used to clarify the information better.
Care for the wound is very important - if it is done "unsanitarily" this is usually when an infection can occur. There are a variety of reasons and of course depends on the location of the wound as well.
You should wear a new pair of sterile surgical gloves.
The suffix "-rhaphy" means surgical suturing to close a wound.
Tertiary intention is delayed primary closure of a surgical wound. The wound that is too heavily contaminated for primary closure is left open after removal of all non-viable tissue.
cleaning a wound - under medical/surgical asepsis techniques with sanitization, disinfection, and/or sterilization. If open wound, it would then have to be debrideded so that new blood capilliaries are reach and new tissue would be allowed to form.
A surgical wound that becomes infected and must be reopened.
J. Englebert Dunphy has written: 'Current surgical diagnosis & treatment 1979' -- subject(s): Surgery, Surgical Diagnosis 'Wound healing' -- subject(s): Surgical Wound Infection, Wound healing
Steri strips are used to hold an open wound closed. They are used for minor cuts as well as surgical incisions.
Dehiscence
What's a fracture with an open wound