More Patients may be Able to Safely Shower after Surgery - Rawan For Media Artistic and Production
Even
though showering can lift patients’ spirits, potentially speeding
recovery, concerns about contamination often prompt doctors to advise
against getting wounds wet until stitches are removed, which can take
many days, or even weeks.
But
when researchers randomly permitted some patients with relatively
low-risk surgical wounds to shower 48 hours after their operations, the
people who got to bathe were happier with their care - and their odds of
infection were no different from those of their unwashed peers.
The
findings, along with results from other recent research, should help
convince more doctors to let patients shower after surgery, said Dr.
Paul Dayton, a researcher at Des Moines University and Unity Point
Health in Iowa who wasn’t involved in the study.
“Traditions
are sometimes long to fade away due to lack of good evidence to support
change – this paper will certainly help to drive change,” Dayton said
by email. “Early water exposure may in fact be a universally safe
recommendation.”
For
the current study, Dr. Jin-Shing Chen of National Taiwan University
Hospital and colleagues focused on patients with relatively low-risk
wounds, excluding people with infections, inflammation or injuries
caused by outside objects like bullet or knives entering the body.
The
experiment included patients with “clean” wounds, the lowest-risk
category, with no signs of infection after less invasive operations, and
individuals with so-called “clean-contaminated” wounds, which are
uninfected but involve more complex operations such as chest, ear or
gynecologic procedures.
The
researchers enrolled 444 patients having surgeries on thethyroid, lung,
face, extremities and certain abdominal hernias. Half the participants
could shower 48 hours after the operations, while the rest of them had
to wait.
Within
two weeks of surgery, four patients in the shower group and six in the
unwashed group developed superficial surgical site infections with
redness and swelling, a difference that was too small to rule out the
possibility that it was due to chance.
All
of the patients reported similar levels of pain after surgery, but the
ones who got to shower were more satisfied with their care.
One
shortcoming of the study is that doctors knew which patients got to
shower and which didn’t, which has the potential to influence outcomes,
the authors note in the Annals of Surgery. Researchers also lacked data
on the longer-term infection risk since they only followed patients for
two weeks.
It’s
also important to note that patients who showered didn’t use soap or
cleanser at the surgical site or submerge the wound, noted Dr. Heather
Evans, an infectious disease and surgery researcher at the University of
Washington and Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
All
wounds in the study were also relatively small and probably weren’t
under tension that might lead to conditions that can trigger infections,
Evans, who wasn’t involved in the study, added by email.
“I
think the take-home message for patients from this particular study is
that showering with water within 48 hours after elective surgery is safe
if the surgical wound is small, had minimal contamination, and was
primarily closed with (stitches),” Evans said.
By Reuters Health, 13 hours 37 minutes ago
Many
patients may be able to shower just two days after their operations
without increasing their risk of infections around the incision site, a
recent study suggests.
patients may be able to shower just two days after their operations
without increasing their risk of infections around the incision site, a
recent study suggests.
Even
though showering can lift patients’ spirits, potentially speeding
recovery, concerns about contamination often prompt doctors to advise
against getting wounds wet until stitches are removed, which can take
many days, or even weeks.
But
when researchers randomly permitted some patients with relatively
low-risk surgical wounds to shower 48 hours after their operations, the
people who got to bathe were happier with their care - and their odds of
infection were no different from those of their unwashed peers.
The
findings, along with results from other recent research, should help
convince more doctors to let patients shower after surgery, said Dr.
Paul Dayton, a researcher at Des Moines University and Unity Point
Health in Iowa who wasn’t involved in the study.
“Traditions
are sometimes long to fade away due to lack of good evidence to support
change – this paper will certainly help to drive change,” Dayton said
by email. “Early water exposure may in fact be a universally safe
recommendation.”
For
the current study, Dr. Jin-Shing Chen of National Taiwan University
Hospital and colleagues focused on patients with relatively low-risk
wounds, excluding people with infections, inflammation or injuries
caused by outside objects like bullet or knives entering the body.
The
experiment included patients with “clean” wounds, the lowest-risk
category, with no signs of infection after less invasive operations, and
individuals with so-called “clean-contaminated” wounds, which are
uninfected but involve more complex operations such as chest, ear or
gynecologic procedures.
The
researchers enrolled 444 patients having surgeries on thethyroid, lung,
face, extremities and certain abdominal hernias. Half the participants
could shower 48 hours after the operations, while the rest of them had
to wait.
Within
two weeks of surgery, four patients in the shower group and six in the
unwashed group developed superficial surgical site infections with
redness and swelling, a difference that was too small to rule out the
possibility that it was due to chance.
All
of the patients reported similar levels of pain after surgery, but the
ones who got to shower were more satisfied with their care.
One
shortcoming of the study is that doctors knew which patients got to
shower and which didn’t, which has the potential to influence outcomes,
the authors note in the Annals of Surgery. Researchers also lacked data
on the longer-term infection risk since they only followed patients for
two weeks.
It’s
also important to note that patients who showered didn’t use soap or
cleanser at the surgical site or submerge the wound, noted Dr. Heather
Evans, an infectious disease and surgery researcher at the University of
Washington and Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
All
wounds in the study were also relatively small and probably weren’t
under tension that might lead to conditions that can trigger infections,
Evans, who wasn’t involved in the study, added by email.
“I
think the take-home message for patients from this particular study is
that showering with water within 48 hours after elective surgery is safe
if the surgical wound is small, had minimal contamination, and was
primarily closed with (stitches),” Evans said.
By Reuters Health, 13 hours 37 minutes ago
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق