Superficial surgical site infection in delayed primary vs primary. Wound closure in complicated appendicitis

Abstract

<b><br>Introduction:</b> Wound infection is the most common post-operative complication encountered after open appendectomy. Various studies have compared the risk of superficial surgical site infection (SSI) in primary closure (PC) and delayed primary closure (DPC) of wounds. However, there is no uniform consensus regarding the method of wound closure.</br> <b><br>Aim:</b> The aim of this study is to compare the two wound closure techniques.</br> <b><br>Material and methods:</b> This is a prospective study which enrolled 50 patients who underwent open appendectomy. The patients’ demographics, characteristics, and operative findings were recorded. Those who were older than 18 years and had an appendectomy with a right lower quadrant incision were included. Patients with any comorbidity, morbid obesity, or pregnancy were excluded. Patients were randomized to undergo two techniques of wound closure: PC and DPC. During follow- -up at 1 week and 1 month, SSI, post-op pain, and LOS were compared among the two groups. Clinical assessment included the Visual Analog Scale (1–10) for pain.</br> <b><br>Results:</b> In our study, the incidence of SSI in the DPC group was significantly lower than in the PC group (p = 0.0002), while post-op pain and LOS were not significantly different between the two groups.</br> <b><br>Conclusions:</b> We concluded that DPC was superior to PC in terms of reducing the incidence of superficial SSI, but with respect to post-op pain and LOS, the two techniques of wound closure were not different.</br>