title: [A study on surgical dressings and the uses associated to them].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the variability in the surgical dressing practices and to assess the factors of their use.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective study on surgical dressings was carried out. Data was collected on some post surgery patients who, once outside the operating room in a general hospital, they were still wearing a surgical dressing. A non-random sample was included. Socio demographic data, pre operative and intra operative data inside the operating room were collected as well as post surgical tests in the surgical inpatient wards. Tests chi2 were carried out for the category variables, tau Student for the continuous ones and the variant analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  315 patients were put into groups of 5 according to the surgical proceedings. All dressings were realized with non-woven gauze dressings (more absorbent) and mostly removed every 24 to 48 hours. Two groups showed more exuded dressings. The highest percentage of lesions appeared when dressings were removed between 24 and 48 hours. 50% of the removed ones before the first 24 hours had been over dressed and the chance of having skin lesion was increased 7 times with the reinforcement. Patients showed a medium average of comfort of 6,09 (EVA 0-10) to the dressings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of the traditional dry dressings to cover surgical wounds and the technique to apply a dressing over the existing one are here confirmed. A direct relation is observed between the reapplication of dressings to the same wound and the skin lesions.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Epidemiologia Clinica, Consorcio Hospitalario de Vic. Barcelona. echirveches@chv.cat
authors.forename: Emilia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chirveches-Pérez
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roca-Closa
authors.forename: Gemma
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Clotet-Argemí
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cantillo-Vila
authors.forename: Imma
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dot-Suárez
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pérez-Pons
authors.forename: Fina
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rosell-Cinca
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001458:Bandages / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies