Abstract
Objective: The null hypothesis for this investigation was that there was no difference in the frequency of wound disruption between women who had their subcutaneous tissues approximated with suture and those who did not during cesarean section.
Methods: During alternating months, consecutive women delivered by cesarean section either did (N = 716) or did not (N = 693) have their subcutaneous tissues closed with suture. All data were analyzed using chi square, Student's t-test, Fisher's exact probability test, analysis of variance, or logistic regression.
Results: A 32% decrease in the frequency of wound disruption was observed when subcutaneous tissues were brought into apposition with suture at cesarean section (P = 0.03).
Conclusions: Closure of Scarpa's and Camper's fascia with suture during cesarean section significantly decreased the frequency of wound disruption in this population.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (397.7 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Cruse P. J., Foord R. A five-year prospective study of 23,649 surgical wounds. Arch Surg. 1973 Aug;107(2):206–210. doi: 10.1001/archsurg.1973.01350200078018. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cruse P. J., Foord R. The epidemiology of wound infection. A 10-year prospective study of 62,939 wounds. Surg Clin North Am. 1980 Feb;60(1):27–40. doi: 10.1016/s0039-6109(16)42031-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Emmons S. L., Krohn M., Jackson M., Eschenbach D. A. Development of wound infections among women undergoing cesarean section. Obstet Gynecol. 1988 Oct;72(4):559–564. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gibbs R. S., Blanco J. D., St Clair P. J. A case-control study of wound abscess after cesarean delivery. Obstet Gynecol. 1983 Oct;62(4):498–501. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Helmkamp B. F. Abdominal wound dehiscence. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1977 Aug 1;128(7):803–807. doi: 10.1016/0002-9378(77)90724-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Moir-Bussy B. R., Hutton R. M., Thompson J. R. Wound infection after caesarean section. J Hosp Infect. 1984 Dec;5(4):359–370. doi: 10.1016/0195-6701(84)90003-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mowat J., Bonnar J. Abdominal wound dehiscence after caesarean section. Br Med J. 1971 May 1;2(5756):256–257. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5756.256. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Olson M., O'Connor M., Schwartz M. L. Surgical wound infections. A 5-year prospective study of 20,193 wounds at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. Ann Surg. 1984 Mar;199(3):253–259. doi: 10.1097/00000658-198403000-00001. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ortona L., Federico G., Fantoni M., Pallavicini F., Ricci F., Antinori A. A study on the incidence of postoperative infections and surgical sepsis in a university hospital. Infect Control. 1987 Aug;8(8):320–324. doi: 10.1017/s0195941700066418. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pelle H., Jepsen O. B., Larsen S. O., Bo J., Christensen F., Dreisler A., Jørgensen P. J., Kirstein A., Kjøller M., Lange A. Wound infection after cesarean section. Infect Control. 1986 Sep;7(9):456–461. doi: 10.1017/s019594170006495x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Polk H. C., Jr, Simpson C. J., Simmons B. P., Alexander J. W. Guidelines for prevention of surgical wound infection. Arch Surg. 1983 Oct;118(10):1213–1217. doi: 10.1001/archsurg.1983.01390100075019. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Poole G. V., Jr Mechanical factors in abdominal wound closure: the prevention of fascial dehiscence. Surgery. 1985 Jun;97(6):631–640. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Roche A. F., Sievogel R. M., Chumlea W. C., Webb P. Grading body fatness from limited anthropometric data. Am J Clin Nutr. 1981 Dec;34(12):2831–2838. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/34.12.2831. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]