Comparison of Antibiotic Coated Vicryl Vs Non-Coated Vicryl in Abdominal Fascial Closure After Laparotomy in Children

Abstract

Objective: To compare the outcome of antibiotic-coated vicryl versus non-coated vicryl in abdominal fascial closure after laparotomy in children regarding surgical site infections in contaminated wounds. Material and Method: This randomized control study (NCT06129773) was conducted for one year at The Children's Hospital and University of Child Health Sciences, Lahore. According to the operational criteria, 100 patients were included in the research and randomly divided into two groups (50 patients in each Group). All patients were assessed for surgical site infection on the 3rd, 7th, and 30th postoperative days using the Southampton wound grading system. The student's t-test and Chi-square tests were applied in SPSS version 24 to interpret the associations between different variables. A P-value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results: Both groups have similar demographic parameters like age and weight distribution. The mean age of the children in abdominal fascial closure with antibiotic-coated vicryl was 64.09±50.14 months, while in non-coated vicryl was 64.26± 53.45 months (p-value of 0.164). There was a male predominance in the study population, with 70 % males and 30 % females. The total surgical site infection (SSI) incidence following laparotomy was 37%. Surgical site infections occurred in 22% of patients in abdominal fascial closure with antibiotic-coated vicryl and 52% in the non-coated vicryl Group (p-value: 0.002). The hospital stay in the antibiotic-coated vicryl Group was significantly shorter than non-coated group. (4.20 versus 8.24 days. P- value: 0.001). Conclusions: The results of our study concluded that antibiotic-coated vicryl is superior to uncoated vicryl for abdominal fascial closure after laparotomy in contaminated wounds in children