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| Best treatment for wound dehiscence and how to prevent it? Photo by Alexander Grey: |
Best treatment of wound dehiscence is a topic of great interest as wound dehiscence is one of the main complications that people face after a surgery.
Depending on the site of the surgery and the severity,
treatment of wound dehiscence differs but the distress people undergo remains
almost the same.
What is Wound Dehiscence?
Wound dehiscence occurs as a complication when you receive sutures from a surgery. The wound edges may reopen partially or fully due to the defects in the wound healing mechanism making a new wound.
Ultimate result
is that wound will take a lot of time to heal causing you unnecessary trouble.
Usually, you will notice this within one week after surgery
as during this time, the wound healing process is still in early stages.
There are two main aspects of wound dehiscence.
Superficial
wound dehiscence is when the most superficial layers of wound edges are
separated whereas Full thickness dehiscence is when the underlying deep
layers are also involved and separated completely.
In full thickness dehiscence, if the wound is situated on a cavity as in the abdomen, this can open a pathway from the inside of the cavity to the outside as well. If so, there is a risk of internal organs coming out of this pathway. This is Evisceration.
Evisceration is a very dangerous consequence of wound dehiscence that needs urgent proper treatment.
Tensile Strength
During the first few days of the skin wound, the tensile strength of the wound is minimal. But as the collagen tissue forms, the wound tissue will increase its tensile strength over time.
Thus, wound dehiscence is
more likely during the first few days of the wound.
Causes and Risk Factors of Wound Dehiscence
Causes and Risk factors related to the Patient
Age
Increasing age is a risk factor for wound dehiscence.
Malnutrition
If you have any nutritional deficiency like anemia,
hypoalbuminemia, vitamin deficiencies etc. it will result in poor wound healing
that will in turn can cause wound dehiscence. Most importantly, vitamin c
deficiency, zinc deficiency, protein deficiency can reduce wound healing.
