Gauze Packing of Open Surgical Wounds: Empirical or Evidence-Based Practice?

Abstract

This review summarises the some of the modern alternatives available and the evidence--or the lack of it--for their use in both the acute and chronic setting.

Wound Healing Dressings and Drug Delivery Systems: A Review

“…In this review, issues are also addressed with reference to the continued use of traditional gauze dressings even with the introduction of more modern ones. The use of soaked gauze for packing open surgical and cavity wounds has also been reviewed in the light of their known shortcomings in comparison to the more recent dressings currently available for chronic wounds 74. Sterile gauze pads are used for packing open wounds to absorb fluid and exudates with the fibres in the dressing acting as a filter to draw fluid away from the wound.…”

Negative Pressure Wound Therapy

“…The total number of patients included in this review was 602, which contrasts sharply with the thousands of NPWT applications performed each day worldwide. This problem of lack of research also affects many other wound therapies, 2,42,43 probably because wound healing represents a complex and heterogeneous scientific problem. Owing to the large number of still unpublished trials and especially the unreported early termination of trials, the potential for publication bias is high.…”

A Randomized Crossover Investigation of Pain at Dressing Change Comparing 2 Foam Dressings

“…6,7 The clinical efficacy (reduction in healing time and costs) of modern dressings over traditional saline gauze remains controversial, 8,9 yet patients consistently experience more pain with gauze than any other advanced moisture balance dressings including foam, 10 alginate, 11,12 and hydrocolloid dressings. 13 Wound-related pain is multidimensional in nature, integrating the experience of persistent (chronic) pain between dressing changes with intermittent (acute) pain that is often exacerbated by dressing changes.…”