Surgical Wounds

The word “surgery” is just plain scary.  When we hear this we automatically think about being put to sleep and find ourselves thinking of the worst that may happen.  Surgery may be necessary for you or your loved one someday, and it is important that you understand some key points.  Simply put, in any surgical procedure, a surgical wound will be created in order to open the layers of tissue necessary to access the source of disease or injury.

Surgery generally involves blood loss resulting in a surgical wound afterwards that will need strict care provided until it resolves to prevent infection from setting in.  Any opening in the body is a possible growth medium for an infectious process to begin.  Surgical wounds are made for a number of reasons by a highly trained health care professional with use of a sterilized cutting instrument, such as a scalpel, during a procedure in a sterile environment.  Many variables can be controlled in the sterile environment such as bacteria, size, location and the nature of the wound itself.  Surgery may be required in some cases of disease or injury to treat or further investigate what is going on with the specific condition.

Be advised that there are four classes of surgical wound types based on the wound’s level of contamination: clean, clean-contaminated, contaminated and dirty-infected.  Once your wound is evaluated and its type is determined, this will allow health care professionals to better predict the risk of infections and wound healing outcomes to include in your plan of care, thereby allowing optimal treatment for each type of surgical wound.

·        Class I – This class refers to clean surgical wounds that show no apparent signs of inflammation and do not involve the respiratory, gastrointestinal (GI), or genitourinary (GU) tracts.  An example of this would be a skin biopsy.

·        Class II – Surgical wounds in this class are considered clean-contaminated; meaning they are clean, but with a higher risk of infection, such as those surgeries that involve the GI, GU or respiratory tracts.  The surgery must be uncomplicated, meaning there was a purpose to open a wound.  An example of this would be if a wound is opened to remove pins.  Be advised though, the opening of the wound allows for entrance of infection.

·        Class III – These are contaminated wounds.  They occur when an outside object comes into contact with the wound itself.  This could be things from the outside including bullets, knife blades, etc.  Or the contamination could be caused by spillage from the GI tract into the wound during the procedure.  If the tissue surrounding the surgical wound is highly inflamed or infected, the wound will be determined as a Class III, contaminated wound.

·        Class IV- If your wound falls into this class it is considered a dirty-infected surgical wound.  This occurs if a foreign body is lodged in the wound, such as debris from an accident or a bullet.  Also, your wound could be a Class IV if it occurred from a traumatic injury from a dirty source and you waited to seek treatment.  Or, this class includes surgical wounds that are infected, and/or have been exposed to pus or fecal matter.

Signs of infection are another area you should be familiar with if ever you experience a surgical wound.  Never hesitate to seek out medical attention.  These signs include but are not limited to: increased redness around the wound, increased warmth noted in the skin around the wound, swelling, fever, drainage from the wound that is foul-smelling or discolored, increase in pain at the wound area, or if the wound continues to get larger or deeper even with strict treatment.  Those with a decreased in immune function will generally have a longer recovery time with an increase risk of developing an infection, such as those with diabetes or the elderly.  Obviously too, if your wound treatments are completed poorly causing contamination, this could result in worsening of your condition.  Individuals must pay close attention to the location of the wound, if it is near a place that is contaminated often such as the groin; it will need maintained a lot more frequently than a wound that is say, on your leg.

The treatment plan will be specific to your type of surgical wound.  The provider will develop a plan of care for you that our professionals at Total Home Health will follow to ensure your best recovery time.  As always though, ensure that you maintain proper nutrition and hydration during your recovery period, as this will promote your wound to heal along with helping to prevent infection. 

All in all, if there is one thing you should have learned from this is that from the classes of wounds mentioned above, you definitely want yours to be classified as a Class I.  However, once you are stabilized and are able to receive care in your home our professional staff at Total Home Health will provide you with the best wound treatment by strictly adhering to the regimen stated by your provider.  Our goal will always be to prevent infection of your wound and to make your recovery time as easy as possible so that you can begin functioning at your normal level once again.