Mukhtiar Ali, Saeeda, Muhammad Israr, Hafi Z Niamat-ullah.
Frequency of abdominal wound dehiscence and role of wound infection as a major causative factor.
Pak J Surg Jan ;30(1):4-8.

Objectives: To fi nd the frequency of abdominal wound dehiscence and establish the role of wound infection as a major causative factor in patients undergoing elective or emergency laparotomy. Methodology: Th is was a descriptive cross sectional study, conducted in the department of Surgery Mardan Medical Complex and Teaching Hospital Mardan. Study duration was 12 months. Sampling technique was Consecutive (Non Probability) sampling. All male and female patients above 18 years age who underwent diagnostic or therapeutic laparotomy were included in the study. A pre-operative workup included history taking, thorough clinical examination and routine laboratory investigations. Patients undergoing elective or emergency laparotomy were prospectively followed for development of wound infection and any event of wound dehiscence noted. Results: Male to female ratio was 1.45:1. Mean age aff ected was 38.40 years. 144 (81.4%) patients were operated in emergency while 33 (18.6%) cases were operated electively. Out of 177 patients, abdominal wound dehiscence was seen in 26 (14.7%) patients. Overall 32 (18.1%) patients developed wound infection. All of the patients having wound dehiscence had wound infection. Presence of wound dehiscence was found signifi cantly high (p= <0.05) in patients operated in emergency as compared to elective cases. Wound infection was found to be statistically signifi cant (p= <0.05) factor associated with wound dehiscence. Conclusions: We conclude that frequency of wound dehiscence, burst abdomen is still very high in this part of the world. Patients undergoing laparotomy for various emergency procedures like peritonitis, intestinal obstruction and trauma are at a particular high risk of developing wound dehiscence/ burst abdomen. Presence of wound is a signifi cant factor contributing to development of wound dehiscence and burst abdomen. Wound dehiscence still constitutes as a major cause of signifi cant morbidity and mortality among patients undergoing laparotomy. Some of the major factors like wound infection must be vigilantly looked for and treated to prevent this catastrophic complication.

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