COMPARISON OF WOUND INFECTION IN SKIN REPAIR BY TWO WAYS OF SUBCUTICULAR AND FAR AND NEAR SUTURES IN UNCOMPLICATED APPENDECTOMIES

Appendectomy due to appendicitis is the most common emergency surgery in the world. Appendicitis occurs mostly in the second to fourth decades of life. The aim of this study was to compare wound infection in skin repair by the two ways of subcuticular and far and near sutures in uncomplicated appendectomies in Imam Khomeini hospital, Urmia, Iran.

This study was an interventional trial that was conducted on 300 patients who underwent appendectomy and the surgical site wound was repaired with two types of subcuticular sutures and distal and proximal sutures. The patients were examined by the attending physician for signs of infection such as purulent discharge, local tenderness, fever, hematoma, redness, and drainage at the site of the surgical wound. The final diagnosis of the infection was made by the attending physician based on the definition of the infection and according to the symptoms.

In this study, 150 people had their skin repaired by the subcuticular method and 150 people by the far and near method. In terms of surgical wound infection, 3 people (2%) had infection and 147 people (98%) had no infection. In the group of skin repair by far and near method, 5 people (3.3%) had infection and 145 people (96.7%) had no infection in skin repair by subcuticular method. In total, 8 people (2.66%) had surgical wound infection and 292 people (97.33%) had no surgical wound infection, and there was no significant difference between post-surgical wound infection in the two treatment groups (P<0.05).

This study showed that there was no significant difference in wound infection in two treatment groups. However, the infection in the subcuticular skin repair group was higher than the far and near skin repair group.