Ambulatory care for patients with abdominal and pelvic surgical wound

Abstract

Despite technological advances, patients submitted to surgical anesthesia procedures still suffer from surgical wound complications. These wounds are classified as acute and are made so as to reduce the risk of complications. They tend to retreat spontaneously and completely within an estimated time. However, they can become complex and chronic when there are complications in the healing process. The objectives of this study were to characterize patients with an abdominal and pelvic surgical wound treated in the Stomal Therapy Division in an ambulatory care department of a Belo Horizonte hospital and to compare the factors identified in patients predisposed to complications in the surgical wound with those reported in the medical literature.This is a retrospective, descriptive study taken at the ambulato ry care with a sample of 22 patients presenting a complex abdominal or pelvic surgical wound. These were mainly women between 22 and 79 years old, overweight or obese. The patients had surgical wound dehiscence associated with infection in 63.6%. More than a half of the lesions displayed an area greater than 20 cm² and the wound depth ranged from 0.1 cm to 6.8 cm. Most patients were discharged with the wound healed in about 3 months and 10 days of treatment. The results confirmed what is described in the medical literature, that is, overweight and obesity contribute to the development of infection. Infection and dehiscence were identified as the complex surgical wound main complication.