What are Postoperative Wounds? Proper Care for Surgical Wounds

Proper care of postoperative wounds will reduce infection, relieve pain, and save costs for patients. Moreover, scientific care of surgical wounds helps wounds heal faster and prevents unsightly scars.

In this article, Urgo Medical will summarize the knowledge & principles of postoperative wound care at home to help patients recover quickly.

Proper care of postoperative wounds accelerates the healing process

1. What is a postoperative wound? Is it necessary to keep the wound dry?

Postoperative wounds, also called post-surgical wounds or surgical wounds, are incisions or cuts made through the skin by doctors during surgery. Depending on the type of surgery performed, the size of the wound may vary in length.
To close the wound and promote quick healing while preventing infection, surgeons usually stitch the wound with sutures. However, in some cases, the wound may not be stitched and requires proper care as instructed by medical staff.

During the first 24 hours after surgery, you need to keep the stitched wound dry. Therefore, on the first day after surgery, patients should not bathe normally but only wipe themselves with a wrung towel while in bed.

On the second day, you should still limit bathing if the body does not sweat excessively. If necessary, take a quick shower while carefully covering the postoperative wound to avoid water or soap contacting it. After showering, gently dry the area around the wound with a clean towel and change the surgical dressing.

*Notes for postoperative care:

– Do not shower directly onto the wound or scrub the surgical wound.

– Do not soak or take a bath, as the epidermis at the incision may soften, causing sutures to loosen and increasing infection risk.

2. How to care for stitched wounds? When can the bandage and sutures be removed?

Caring for stitched wounds is very important, because improper care can cause slow healing, ugly scars, or even infection. Below are the correct steps to care for postoperative sutures:
– Step 1: Remove the old dressing.

– Step 2: Use tweezers to dip sterile gauze or cloth into saline solution.

– Step 3: Gently wipe or dab the wound surface. Pay special attention to the suture line, thread ends, and stitch paths as these are areas with many germs.

– Step 4: Continue cleaning the skin around the wound within a 5cm radius.

– Step 5: Dry the surgical wound and re-dress it with clean cloth or sterile gauze.

Changing the dressing is an important step in surgical wound care

*Notes when changing postoperative wound dressings:

– Always wash your hands with disinfectant or soap (for 15-30 seconds and dry) before and after removing old dressings. Remove all jewelry.

– Use tweezers to handle gauze, cotton, or soft cloth. Avoid direct hand contact. If tweezers are unavailable, use clean medical gloves.

– Avoid contaminating or wetting the dressing.

– Use saline disinfectant solution to clean postoperative wounds. Do not use antibacterial soap, harsh cleansers, hydrogen peroxide, iodine, or alcohol as these can destroy delicate granulation tissue and delay healing. Such solutions are only suitable for wounds with pus, infection, or dirt.

– To prevent infection of surgical wounds, follow this order: Clean the wound first, then clean the surrounding skin.

– Unless directed by a doctor, do not apply any moisturizers, creams, oils, or herbal solutions to the wound.

Regarding bandage and suture removal, the surgeon will inform you of the exact timing upon discharge. Usually, after one day from discharge, most surgical wounds do not require dressing changes unless the wound is open and leaking (doctor will advise). On the second day, you may change the dressing and continue cleaning and dressing daily until the stitches are removed and the wound fully heals.

In most cases, doctors use absorbable sutures that dissolve after 7-10 days, so no removal appointment is necessary.

However, if your postoperative wound is closed with conventional stitches, the doctor will schedule suture removal, usually 5-21 days post-surgery, depending on the wound location and surgery type. Never remove stitches at home without proper expertise to avoid damaging the surgical wound.

3. How to move after surgery correctly? What to do if the wound leaks blood?

After surgery, you should avoid lying still in bed and can walk gently on the first day after leaving the recovery room. Lack of movement can lead to risks such as thrombosis, bowel obstruction, pneumonia, and pressure ulcers.
Gentle movement after surgery is recommended

However, movements and walking must be gentle to avoid affecting the wound. Strong movements can strain fresh sutures, even internal stitches in organs, potentially causing stitches to tear, wounds to open, or dressings to loosen, increasing infection risk and delaying healing.

If the postoperative wound leaks blood soaking the dressing, immediately change the dressing and apply pressure for a few minutes to stop the bleeding. If bleeding continues or worsens despite pressure, seek medical attention promptly.

4. When should you immediately inform a doctor or healthcare professional about postoperative wounds?

If you notice any of the following abnormal signs in your surgical wound after surgery, immediately inform your doctor or healthcare provider, or promptly visit a hospital for re-examination:
– Foul odor from the wound.

– Increasing pain at the wound site or pain during urination.

– Swelling, heat, redness around the wound, or skin swelling, tenderness, and softness when pressed.

– Hematoma, bleeding, pus discharge (thick, green-yellow), or increased fluid secretion.

– Fatigue, chills, body temperature over 38.5°C for more than 4 hours.

– Sutures come undone, wound opens, wound appears deeper or larger.

– Sensation of tightness or pressure at the wound site.

– Irregular heartbeat, nausea, and vomiting.

Always monitor for abnormal signs of surgical wounds

These signs may indicate postoperative wound infection, and self-care at home is no longer sufficient. Medical staff need to clean the wound. In severe infections, surgeons may need to remove stitches to check for internal infection and prescribe appropriate treatment.

In Vietnam, about 10% of millions of surgeries suffer surgical wound infections. This is one of the most common infections and a leading cause of death worldwide among surgical patients. It not only delays healing, prolongs hospital stays, and increases mortality risk but also burdens patients, families, and healthcare systems.

However, with proper postoperative wound care, you can reduce infection risk, speed healing, and minimize pain during dressing changes. Medical staff often recommend advanced Urgo Medical dressings, especially UrgoTul mesh dressing, suitable for use continuously from hospital to home.

UrgoTul mesh dressing uses proprietary TLC technology for painless dressing changes and fast healing.

UrgoTul dressing helps postoperative wounds heal quickly with painless dressing changes

Above are useful knowledge and information on first aid & postoperative wound care. At Urgo Medical, we provide many wound care solutions suitable for different injury conditions and healing stages. You can refer to related wound care products here: urgomedical.vn.

REFERENCES:

1. https://www.webmd.com/first-aid/surgical-wound-care  
2. https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/features/home-self-care 
3. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000040.htm
4. https://www.vinmec.com/vi/tin-tuc/thong-tin-suc-khoe/suc-khoe-tong-quat/nhiem-khuan-vet-mo-khi-nao-can-phau-thuat
5. Chăm sóc người bệnh sau mổ – Health Việt Nam
6. https://healthvietnam.vn/thu-vien/tai-lieu-tieng-viet/dieu-duong/cham-soc-nguoi-benh-sau-mo
7. MSD và Cẩm nang MSD (Phiên bản dành cho chuyên gia) – https://www.msdmanuals.com/vi-vn/chuy%C3%AAn-gia/%C4%91%E1%BB%91i-t%C6%B0%E1%BB%A3ng-%C4%91%E1%BA%B7c-bi%E1%BB%87t/ch%C4%83m-s%C3%B3c-b%E1%BB%87nh-nh%C3%A2n-ph%E1%BA%ABu-thu%E1%BA%ADt/ch%C4%83m-s%C3%B3c-sau-ph%E1%BA%ABu-thu%E1%BA%ADt