Oehme F, Rühle A, Börnert K, Hempel S, Link BC, Babst R, Metzger J, Beeres FJ, et al.
World journal of surgery. Date of publication 2020 Dec 1;volume 44(12):4041-4051.
1. World J Surg. 2020 Dec;44(12):4041-4051. doi: 10.1007/s00268-020-05738-1. Epub
2020 Aug 18.
Simple Wound Irrigation in the Postoperative Treatment for Surgically Drained
Spontaneous Soft Tissue Abscesses: A Prospective, Randomized Controlled Trial.
Oehme F(1)(2), Rühle A(3)(4), Börnert K(5)(4), Hempel S(6), Link BC(7), Babst
R(7), Metzger J(4), Beeres FJ(7).
Author information:
(1)Department for Visceral, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery at the University
Hospital Dresden, Carl Gustav Carus University Dresden, P.O. Box 01307, Dresden,
Germany. florianoehme85@gmail.com.
(2)Department of General Surgery, Cantonal Hospital Lucerne, Spitalstrasse 16,
P.O. Box 6000, 6000, Lucerne, Switzerland. florianoehme85@gmail.com.
(3)Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University of
Heidelberg, P.O. Box 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
(4)Department of General Surgery, Cantonal Hospital Lucerne, Spitalstrasse 16,
P.O. Box 6000, 6000, Lucerne, Switzerland.
(5)Department of Trauma Surgery, Cantonal Hospital Obwalden, Brünigstrasse 181,
P.O. Box 6060, 6060, Sarnen, Switzerland.
(6)Department for Visceral, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery at the University
Hospital Dresden, Carl Gustav Carus University Dresden, P.O. Box 01307, Dresden,
Germany.
(7)Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Cantonal Hospital Lucerne,
Spitalstrasse 16, P.O. Box 6000, 6000, Lucerne, Switzerland.
BACKGROUND: Soft tissue abscesses are among the most frequently encountered
medical problems treated by different surgeons. Standard therapy remains
incision and drainage with sterile saline irrigation during postoperative wound
healing period. Aim of this prospective randomized controlled trial was to
compare sterile irrigation versus nonsterile irrigation.
STUDY DESIGN: A single center randomized controlled trial was performed to
investigate postoperative wound irrigation. The control group used sterile
irrigation, and the intervention group used nonsterile irrigation. Primary
endpoints were reinfection and reintervention rates, assessed during follow-up
controls for up to 2 years. Secondary endpoints were the duration of wound
healing, inability to work, pain and quality of life.
RESULTS: Between 04/2016 and 05/2017, 118 patients were randomized into two
groups, with 61 allocated to the control- and 57 to the intervention group.
Reinfection occurred in a total of 4 cases (6.6%) in the sterile protocol and 4
(7%) in the nonsterile protocol. Quality of life and pain values were comparable
during the wound healing period, and patients treated according to the
nonsterile irrigation protocol used significantly fewer wound care service
teams. Despite equal wound persistence rates, a substantially shorter amount of
time off from work was reported in the nonsterile protocol group (p value
0.086).
CONCLUSION: This prospective, randomized trial indicates that a nonsterile
irrigation protocol for patients operated on for soft tissue abscesses is not
inferior to the standard sterile protocol. Moreover, a nonsterile irrigation
protocol leads to a shorter period of inability to work with comparable pain and
quality of life scores during the wound healing period.
DOI: 10.1007/s00268-020-05738-1
PMID: 32812137 [Indexed for MEDLINE]
