Surgery for minor skin excision procedures is common in general practice. There is evidence that early removal of dressings does not increase infection rates for excision wounds. This evidence has not been universally adopted clinically. Reasons in addition to concern about infection risk might include patient pain and discomfort. This study will investigate whether timing of dressing removal affects patient pain and discomfort post-excision. This study will also investigate whether a dressing impregnated with a topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) improves management of post-excision pain for minor procedures.
Seven practices are now actively involved in recruiting participants who have excisions of skin lesions (non-facial). Participants are randomised to receive an initial dressing which either does or does not contain ibuprofen, and then at 48 hours to either cover the excision site with Hypafix film, or leave the wound uncovered. We are continuing with data-collection until mid-September 2022 and we anticipate the results will be analysed and ready for publication shortly thereafter.
If you are a member of the NEGPRN, stay tuned for our CPD events in November on best practice evidence for excision wound care in general practice.
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The guidelines for acute post-surgical wound care in general practice are not well-defined, given the plethora of dressings available, but this article sheds some light:
Sankar Sinha (2019) Management of post-surgical wounds in general practice, AJGP, Volume 48, Issue 9 doi: 10.31128/AJGP-04-19-4921
