A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Two Wound Dressings Used in Obstetric and Gynecological Surgeries: Trushield NXT vs. Tegaderm.

Abstract

Background Surgical site infection (SSI) is considered as a healthcare-associated infection. Wound dressings play an imperative role in altering the risk of SSI. In this study, we compared the efficacy and safety of Trushield NXT Non-adherent dressing (Healthium Medtech Limited, Bangalore, India) to the traditional Tegaderm HP+ Pad Film Dressing with Non-Adherent Pad (3M, Bangalore, India) in post-operative wound management of obstetrics and gynecological surgeries. Methodology This was a single-centre, prospective, two-arm, parallel-group, randomized, single-blind study conducted between January 2022 and May 2022. One hundred two subjects were enrolled and randomized to receive Trushield or Tegaderm dressing (n=51 each). The incidence of SSI, adverse events (AEs), comfort and performance of the dressings, subject satisfaction, and pain score were assessed in both groups. Results The baseline demographics and clinical and physical data were comparable among the groups. During the follow-up study, no SSI or AEs were reported. On the product usage assessment scale, surgeons rated both dressings "good" to "excellent" and favored Trushield for comfortable usage and removal, while Tegaderm was favored for ease of application and flexibility. On the wound pain assessment scale, the proportion of patients reporting "no pain" after surgery was 5.9% in the Trushield group and 4.2% in the Tegaderm group, which increased to 87.8% and 88.6%, respectively, at the end of the follow-up. The subject satisfaction for the comfort and wound healing properties was similar for both products. Conclusion Both dressings were equally safe, efficient, and beneficial in the post-operative wound management of obstetric and gynecological surgeries.