A comparative study of scalpel versus surgical diathermy skin incisions in clean and clean-contaminated effective abdominal surgeries in AVBRH, Wardha, Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Aim: To study the safety and efficacy of diathermy as a modality to give skin incisions. Study Design: Observational study conducted in department of surgery at AVBRH, over 2 years from 2013 to 2015. Material and Methods: 100 cases were studied. In 50 cases incision was given by scalpel and in 50 incisions was given by diathermy. Primary outcome variable was the incisional blood loss, calculated by measuring the weight of swabs used exclusively during incision until complete hemostasis was achieved. Secondary outcome variables were incision time, operative time, pain verbal rating scale (VRS), wound healing, and wound complications. Incision time was defined as the time from the beginning of skin incision until subcutaneous fat arrived, with complete haemostasis; it was expressed in s/cm2. Severity of pain was defined using VRS. Results: we reported shorter time for skin incision, lesser blood loss during surgery and lesser wound complication in cases of diathermy incision, and has more significant pain reduction as compared to scalpel group. Conclusion: The findings of the present study shows that diathermy seems to provide some benefit with respect to postoperative wound pain and has obvious safety advantages to the surgical team compared with scalpel.