A Prospective Study of Abdominal Wound Dehiscence in a Tertiary Care Hospital
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Abstract
Background: Abdominal wound dehiscence is defined as the postoperative separation of layers of a wound, with or without eventration. AWD is one of the most feared postoperative complications for surgeons and is of great concern because of the risk of burst abdomen, the need for immediate intervention, and the possibility of repeat dehiscence, surgical site infection, and mortality. Objective: To estimate the burden of cases of abdominal wound dehiscence in elective and emergency operations, and to identify the aetiology and risk factors responsible for it. Design: A Prospective study was conducted, where the data was collected over a period of one year, from 1st June 2023 to 31st May 2024, in patients attending Government Medical College Jammu, who developed wound dehiscence after undergoing laparotomy for management of abdominal diseases. Subjects/Patients: The patients who had undergone laparotomy and developed wound dehiscence. Methods: A prospective observational study was carried out over a period of one year, from June 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024, in patients attending Government Medical College Jammu who developed wound dehiscence after laparotomy. Inclusion criteria included Patients of age > 14 years and of either sex who underwent either emergency or elective abdominal operations and developed wound dehiscence. Exclusion criteria: All patients with incisional hernia and patients with wound dehiscence on sites other than the abdomen. Results: Laparotomy wound dehiscence was more common in 46-55 years age group with a male-to-female ratio of 2.3:1 the incidence was higher in Emergency surgeries and those performed during night. Dirty wounds and Midline laparotomy had higher risk. Layered closure, of the abdomen, showed a higher rate of dehiscence compared to mass closure. Incidence was higher in BMI greater than 25, with haemoglobin levels below 10 g%, Albumin <3.5gm/dl, Proteins <6gm/dl. Average hospital stay was 22 days and mortality rate in our study was 8%. Conclusion: Keeping in view the morbidity, increased hospital stays, medical expenses, time lost to work, disabilities with future incisional hernia formation and mortality associated with abdominal wall dehiscence, the risk factors should be identified, preoperative optimisation should be done, corrective measures should be taken while closing abdomen and standard protocols should be followed to prevent wound dehiscence.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Vikrant Singh, Sanjay Sharma, Raja Langer, Priya Manhas, Vanita Gupta, Riya Singh Chandail
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Creative Commons License All articles published in Annals of Medicine and Medical Sciences are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Vikrant Singh, Associate Professor, Department of Surgical Gastroenterology, Government Medical College Jammu, India.
Associate Professor, Department of Surgical Gastroenterology, Government Medical College Jammu, India.
Sanjay Sharma, Associate Professor, Department of General Surgery, Government Medical College Jammu, India.
Associate Professor, Department of General Surgery, Government Medical College Jammu, India.
Raja Langer, Assistant Professor, Department of General Surgery, Government Medical College Jammu, India.
Assistant Professor, Department of General Surgery, Government Medical College Jammu, India.
Priya Manhas, Senior resident, Department of General Surgery, Government Medical College Jammu, India.
Senior resident, Department of General Surgery, Government Medical College Jammu, India.
Vanita Gupta, Professor, Department of Anatomy, SMVDIME, Kakryal, Katra, Jammu, India.
Professor, Department of Anatomy, SMVDIME, Kakryal, Katra, Jammu, India.
Riya Singh Chandail, MBBS Student ASCOMS Sidhra, Jammu, India.
MBBS Student ASCOMS Sidhra, Jammu, India.
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