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Uncovering sutures and allowing them to get wet in the first 48 hours after minor skin excisions may not increase infection rates. Heal and colleagues randomised over 800 patients to two groups: the "dry" group had to keep their wounds dry and covered for the first 48 hours, and the "wet" group had to remove the dressings within 12 hours and bathe as normal. By the time the sutures were removed, the incidence of infection was 8-9% in both groups. The study was conducted in a tropical area (Queensland, Australia), however, and the authors say their results may not be generalisable to temperate climates: sweat induced by tropical conditions may dampen dressings and reduce their effectiveness as a barrier against bacteria.
Can sutures get wet? Prospective randomised controlled trial of wound management in general practice BMJ 2006;332:1053-1056 (6 May),
Quote:
Objective To compare standard management of keeping wounds dry and covered with allowing wounds to be uncovered and wet in the first 48 hours after minor skin excision.
Design Prospective, randomised controlled, multicentre trial testing for equivalence of infection rates.
Setting Primary care in regional centre, Queensland, Australia.
Participants 857 patients randomised to either keep their wound dry and covered (n = 442) or remove the dressing and wet the wound (n = 415).
Results The incidence of infection in the intervention group (8.4%) was not inferior to the incidence in the control group (8.9%) (P < 0.05). The one sided 95% confidence interval for the difference of infection rates was to 0.028.
Conclusion These results indicate that wounds can be uncovered and allowed to get wet in the first 48 hours after minor skin excision without increasing the incidence of infection.
Skin sutures can get wet safely after minor excisions
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