Role of Subcutaneous Drainage Can Reduce Such Complications in Patients Undergoing Elective and Emergency Abdominal Surgery

Abstract

Prophylactic drainage of wounds is aimed to reduce the wound complications and thereby morbidity. Obese patients are at more risk. Wound management is a basic practice in surgery, especially after an elective abdominal surgery. Our task after surgery is to avoid and thereby to reduce the adverse effects of wound complications. Objective: To determine whether subcutaneous drainage can reduce such complications in patients undergoing elective and emergency abdominal surgery. Materials and Methods: It is a prospective open comparative study carried out Department of obstetrics and gynecology, in two hospitals Al-Hera Hospital, Mawna, Chowrasta, Sreepur, Gazipur and Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital, Gazipur, Bangladesh over a period of six (6) months August 2021 to January 2022. Patients were randomized before surgery and divided into two groups by systemic random sampling. Total sample size 150 with 75 in each group. All patients will receive same preparations. Results: Wound complications observed in 2 patients with subcutaneous drain which forms 8% of the total patients with subcutaneous drain. Wound complications observed in 25 patients without subcutaneous drain which forms 33.3% of the total patients without subcutaneous drain. Comparing these two data found to be statistically significant with P value < 0.05. Thus the incidence of wound complication is low in those with subcutaneous drain than those without drain. Conclusion: Subcutaneous drain when kept in obese individuals with more subcutaneous fat thickness who undergo elective abdominal surgeries had lesser incidence of local wound complications and lesser hospital stay when compared to those patients without subcutaneous drain.