Can sutures get wet? Prospective randomised controlled trial of wound management in general practice
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
Objective: To compare standard management of keeping wounds dry and covered with allowing wounds to be uncovered and wet in the first 48 hours after minor skin excision. Design Prospective: randomised controlled, multicentre trial testing for equivalence of infection rates. Setting: primary care in regional centre, Queensland, Australia. Participants: 857 patients randomised to either keep their wound dry and covered (n = 442) or remove the dressing and wet the wound (n = 415). Results: The incidence of infection in the intervention group (8.4%) was not inferior to the incidence in the control group (8.9%) (P < 0.05). The one sided 95% confidence interval for the difference of infection rates was {infty} to 0.028. Conclusion: These results indicate that wounds can be uncovered and allowed to get wet in the first 48 hours after minor skin excision without increasing the incidence of infection.
Journal
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Volume
332
ISBN/ISSN
1756-1833
Edition
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Issue
7549
Pages Count
4
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Publisher
BMJ Group
Publisher Url
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Publisher Location
London, United Kingdom
Publish Date
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Date
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EISSN
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DOI
10.1136/bmj.38800.628704.AE