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Introduction

CHAPTER 2 Wound Healing and

Surgical Wound Dressings

Amy Vandiver Luis Garza

SUMMARY

Acute postsurgical wounds follow an orderly progression in healing, from

hemostasis/inflammation to proliferation, and on to maturation and remodeling.

Minimizing tension during primary wound closure will help limit the

proliferative phase of wound healing and decrease chances of keloid formation.

Simple wound dressings, such as polymer films, are generally adequate for most

postoperative wounds.

Beginner Pearls

Avoid dressing a wound with gauze directly adjacent to the wound bed, as it has a

tendency to become incorporated into the wound.

An ounce of prevention truly is worth a pound of cure; pay attention to meticulous

suturing and wound closure, and dressing choice will be far less important.

Be sure to affix the pressure dressing to the surrounding skin and not to the polymer

film, or when the pressure dressing is removed the film will be as well.

Expert Pearls

While polymer films, such as Tegaderm, may work well for wounds closed with

buried sutures alone, nylon sutures that will require removal in under a week may be best dressed with nonadherent pads.

Donโ€™t Forget!

When using a polymer film dressing, some moisture under the dressing is desirable,

but excess serous drainage may lead to maceration.

Most surgical wounds do not require topical antibiotic dressings or ointments.

Pitfalls and Cautions

Wound debridement is of vital importance, but can be painful. In general, the removal

of necrotic tissue is fairly painless, though pretreatment with local anesthetics may be desirable.

Expensive wound dressings and devices generally add little (other than expense) to the

healing of well-sutured operative wounds.

Patient Education Points

When using clear polymer films, advise patients that they will likely see some serous

drainage or even frank bleeding under the dressing. A small amount of eschar present under the film is not concerning.

Patient education regarding leg elevation and compression after lower leg procedures

is of vital importance.

Billing Pearls

While wound dressings are incorporated as part of any surgical procedure,

debridement may be separately billable using the debridement codes (11042 series). Wound debridement performed during the postoperative global period, however,

cannot be billed separately.

CHAPTER 2 Wound Healing and