A sentinel trial conducted at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles showed that painless and gentle probing of a wound with a dry cotton swab after surgery dramatically reduced infections in post-operative incision sites, according to a hospital news release.
All 76 of the study participants had undergone an appendectomy for a perforated appendicitis. Half of the patients assigned to the control group had their incisions loosely closed with staples, then swabbed daily with iodine. The other half of patients in the study group had their incisions loosely closed. Then, their wounds were probed gently between surgical staples with a dry, sterile cotton tip applicator each day.
Only 3 percent of patients who had the daily probings contracted infections compared to 19 percent of those who didn't, representing a rate more than six times greater than that of the study group. The exact mechanism by which the technique prevents surgical site infection is unclear, though researchers deduce that wound probing allows contaminated fluid trapped within soft tissues to drain, reducing the bacterial burden while maintaining a moist environment needed for successful wound healing.
Read the hospital news release about wound probing with a cotton swab.
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All 76 of the study participants had undergone an appendectomy for a perforated appendicitis. Half of the patients assigned to the control group had their incisions loosely closed with staples, then swabbed daily with iodine. The other half of patients in the study group had their incisions loosely closed. Then, their wounds were probed gently between surgical staples with a dry, sterile cotton tip applicator each day.
Only 3 percent of patients who had the daily probings contracted infections compared to 19 percent of those who didn't, representing a rate more than six times greater than that of the study group. The exact mechanism by which the technique prevents surgical site infection is unclear, though researchers deduce that wound probing allows contaminated fluid trapped within soft tissues to drain, reducing the bacterial burden while maintaining a moist environment needed for successful wound healing.
Read the hospital news release about wound probing with a cotton swab.
Related Articles on Infection Control:
"Red Box" Duct Tape Strategy May Help Drive Down Costs, Improve Patient Safety
Study: CAUTI Infection Rates Drop in Hospital ICUs from 1990-2007
California Hospital Association Files Lawsuit Against State Department of Public Health Over Required Infection Reporting