Background: Healing of surgical wounds by secondary intention (SWHSI) can be difficult and costly to manage. This survey aimed to assess the prevalence of SWHSI, to characterize the etiology, duration, and management of these secondary wound healings among patients with open surgical wounds, and to investigate the characteristics of patients with SWHSI in Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted. Our target population was patients older than 17 years in Jazan, Saudi Arabia, with a sampling size of 50. A survey questionnaire consisted of two parts. The respondents have been given a sufficient description of the survey and its objectives.
Results: In total, 55 patients were recruited. The mean ± SD age of all the study participants was 39.9 ± 20.1 years. The majority of the operation type was laparotomy (16.4%), and the most prevalent location of the wound was abdominal wounds. Most of the patients were treated by a general practitioner (44/55, 80%), and the most commonly used dressing types were saline (n = 37, 67.3%). The mean ± SD of weekly dressing change frequency was 4.7± 1.9 in a r ange of 1-7 per week.
Conclusion: We have successfully characterized SWHSI and have been able to describe the characteristics of patients with SWHSI and identify the surgical procedures and surgical specialties that lead to SWHSI. The results from the survey were important and may facilitate the planning of further detailed SWHSI research regarding treatments, outcomes, costs, health resources, improving wound care, and quality of patient's life.
Key words: Surgical wounds healing, primary and secondary intentions, dressing type.
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