When can the tape be removed?
On the day before your discharge from the hospital, your surgeon will give you specific instructions about the right time for you to remove the bandage covering your incision. There is no need to change the dressing after one day of discharge from the hospital, unless directed by a doctor in cases where the wound is open and oozing fluid, these cases should be scheduled for an early follow-up appointment for a doctor to reassess. wound. During this time, you need to keep the entire area covered after surgery, which helps protect the incision from further damage and can heal more quickly.
The next day, the old dressing should be removed and a new dressing changed. Wounds should be washed and bandaged daily until the wound is sutured and fully healed.
How to take care of the wound after minor surgery
Need to clean hands with soap / antiseptic solution before proceeding to clean the surface of the wound being sutured and the surrounding skin. It is recommended to use tongs with cotton wool, gauze / soft cloth.
First, soak a sterile cloth/gauze in physiological saline solution. Next, gently wipe / dab on the wound surface.
Pay attention to the seams and the thread foot / thread will be the focus of the most germs. Do not forget to wash the skin around the wound, spreading within a radius of about 5cm. When carrying out wound care after minor surgery, it is necessary to respect the principle of washing the wound from top to bottom and from the inside out . Absolutely do not do in the reverse order because it will easily cause secondary infection to the incision.
Do not use skin cleansers, antibacterial soaps, iodine, alcohol, or peroxide (hydrogen peroxide). Because these solutions are only used for “dirty” wounds, there is a lot of purulent-inflammatory secretion. If used with clean wounds after surgery, wounds are in the process of skin healing, they may destroy immature granulation tissues, delaying wound healing. Also, at this stage do not apply any lotion/moisturizer/oil/herbal solution unless directed by your doctor.
Is it necessary to keep the wound dry?
Post-operative wound care: avoid getting the sutured wound wet for the first 24 hours after minor surgery. Therefore, on the first day after minor surgery, wipe yourself on the bed with a dry towel instead of taking a bath as usual if bathing does not guarantee to keep the wound dry.
On the second day, the body does not excrete too much sweat, the bathing still needs to be limited. In case it is necessary to clean the body, it is advisable to bathe for a moderate time with warm water under the shower, and at the same time, it is necessary to carefully cover the surgical area to avoid getting dirty water and soap in. Absolutely do not take a bath or soak for too long because when your wound is soaked in water, the epidermis will tend to soften, making the sutures open. This will facilitate the penetration of germs on the skin as well as foreign strains.
After bathing, it is necessary to quickly dry the body and the skin around the wound with a clean towel. soft. This is also the right time of day to change the wound dressing.
Wound care after minor surgery, when to notify the doctor?
You need to see your doctor or go for a follow-up visit soon if you have one of the following abnormalities during post-operative wound care:
- The present pain is increasing
- the wound is red/swollen
- Purulent/bleeding
- Amount of exudate from the wound
- Has an unpleasant odor
- The wound looks bigger/deeper;
- Untie the suture
- The surrounding skin is edematous, painful or when pressed, it will feel fluttering
- Whole body fatigue, lethargy, fever > 38 degrees Celsius lasting more than 4 hours.
These findings are suggestive of a postoperative wound that may have become infected. Treatment at home cannot be continued anymore, requiring the intervention of medical staff. Some cases will need to use additional antibiotics by injection / oral system. In rare cases, the surgeon will need to remove the suture to probe the risk of infection from within the wound.
When will the wound be sutured?
If your wound has been sutured with dissolvable sutures, you won’t have to go back to the doctor again to have the stitches removed as they will disappear on their own in 7-10 days. It is important that you take good care of the wound after minor surgery.
Conversely, if your doctor has closed your wound with regular sutures, you will need to return to have your suture removed according to your doctor’s appointment. The recommended time to remove sutures for minor wounds after minor surgery ranges from 5 to 21 days, depending on the size/site of surgery.
