[Surgical wounds with or without dressings. Prospective comparative study].
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to compare the infectious local risk when the wound dressing was removed or not after 48 hours, and to look for the other advantages or disadvantages of these two methods.


METHODS
Two groups of 50 patients who underwent a thoracic or abdominal procedure, class I or II according to Altemeier, have been randomly selected: one received a wound dressing after 48 hours, and the second did not.


RESULTS
The clinical features were comparable between the two groups. There was no significant difference in the outcome of the two groups of patients in terms of wound infection (only one infected wound in each group).


CONCLUSIONS
Wound dressing usually seems unnecessary.
Meylan
G
G
Département de chirurgie, hôpital de la ville aux Cadolles, 2000 Neuchâtel, Suisse. gfmeylan@bluewin.ch
Tschantz
P
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001458:Bandages; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014945:Wound Healing