Posted on September 13, 2011
Infections are no good following surgery. They can cause cellulitis (redness in the skin), poor wound healing, and scarring. Rates of drug resistant bacteria are rising.
We do many things to decrease the risk of infection:
- I have my patients wash with antibacterial soap the day prior to surgery,
- We prep your skin with a special solution in surgery,
- We use a sterile operating room with draping, gowns, etc.
- I apply the dressings and garment in the OR to protect the wound.
- You get antibiotics IV and orally around the time of surgery.
- I see you frequently to evaluate your wounds, looking for things like redness, rashes, discharge, etc.
What can you do?
- NOTIFY YOUR DOCTOR if you have any personal or family history of MRSA, have had a recent surgery, or a recent hospital admission. (Recent= within the last year.)
- Keep your incisions clean. Discuss with your doctor how you can bathe and when.
- Wash your hands before you touch your incisions. Your skin is not sterile- you don’t need gloves- but you need to use common sense and good hygiene.
- There is no one rule for all patients: some patients have dry wounds which don’t need any “care”- I just keep them covered with special tape.
- Some wounds have discharge- this can be totally normal, particularly within the first 24 hours- or it could signal something brewing. Your doctor should evaluate. If it is wet, mucky, smelly, greenish, painful, red, tender, voluminous (going through gauze pads)– those are things to alert your doctor of quickly.
- Some wounds need a little TLC- which can involve washing the area gently and applying polysporin, neosporin, bacitracin or a similar ointment.
When I meet with you after surgery, which I do frequently, I am looking at your incisions. I am evaluating everything. After being a surgeon for over 15 years, I can see things brewing. If you aren’t healing how I expect you should, then I want to figure out why and fix it. Jumping on things early avoids bigger issues- from infection to just better scarring.