Pediatric clean surgical wounds: is dressing necessary?
OBJECTIVE
The covering of the sutured surgical wound with a sterile dressing is usually considered a routine conclusion to an aseptic operation. The wound is usually left dressed for a minimum of 3 to 5 days. The main purpose of dressing is protection of the wound against bacterial contamination that remains a significant source of postoperative morbidity. The aim of this study was to compare the infectious local risk when the clean pediatric surgical wounds were dressed or left exposed without dressing after the completion of wound closure.


METHODS
Four hundred fifty-one patients with clean surgical wounds were randomized prospectively to receive dressing (n = 216) or have their wounds left exposed without any dressing (n = 235) after the completion of wound closure.


RESULTS
In the group that received wound dressing, wound infection developed in 3 patients (1.4%), whereas in the group that had wounds exposed without any dressing, 4 patients (1.7%) developed wound infection.


CONCLUSIONS
In children, there was no significant difference in terms of wound infection after applying dressing or leaving the clean surgical wounds exposed without any dressing after completion of wound closure. Dressing clean surgical wounds may be unnecessary.
Merei
Jamal M
JM
Department of Pediatric Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.
D000293:Adolescent; D001458:Bandages / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013529:Surgical Wound Dehiscence / Q000517:prevention & control*