A randomized comparison of secondary closure and secondary intention in patients with superficial wound dehiscence.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether secondary closure or secondary intention results differ with respect to time for complete healing and number of postoperative visits in patients with superficial wound dehiscence.

METHODS

A randomized trial involved 33 obstetric and gynecologic patients at the University of Mississippi Medical Center who experienced superficial wound dehiscence. Subjects were assigned to secondary-closure or secondary-intention groups. The two groups were similar in age, absolute body weight, percent ideal body weight, length of the primary surgical procedure, estimated blood loss at the primary surgical procedure, portion of the would that opened, preoperative hemoglobin concentration, and preoperative hematocrit.

RESULTS

Patients randomized to secondary closure required a mean (+/- standard deviation) of 17.6 +/- 7.2 days from dehiscence to complete healing, whereas those assigned to secondary intention required 61.2 +/- 35.8 days (P less than .001). The secondary-closure group required a mean of 2.0 +/- 0.7 postoperative visits, compared with 8.4 +/- 6.2 visits in the secondary-intention group (P less than .001).

CONCLUSION

Secondary closure of superficial wound dehiscence is superior to healing by secondary intention.