The Archives of Bone and Joint Surgery

The Archives of Bone and Joint Surgery

The Effect of Postoperative Dressing Change Frequency on Wound Healing and Complications in Patients Undergoing Carpal Tunnel Release: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Document Type : RESEARCH PAPER

Authors
Amin Hozhabr 1
Mahla Daliri 1
Ehsan Vahedi 1
Mahdi Afarideh Sani 2
Ali Moradi 1
1 Orthopedics Research Center, Ghaem Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
2 Acute Medicine, Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
10.22038/abjs.2024.78146.3620
Abstract
Objectives: Post-operative wound complications are relatively common. The development of an optimal protocol for the frequency of wound dressing change that results in minimal complications seems crucial. The current study aims to compare two different protocols of single and intermittent dressing change for patients undergoing carpal tunnel release (CTR) in terms of: 1) wound healing indicators and 2) complications.
Methods: In this two-arm parallel randomized clinical trial study, 60 patients who were planned to undergo CTR were enrolled. The participants were randomly assigned to two groups: group A) receiving a single dressing, and group B) receiving intermittent dressing changes every other day. After two weeks, all patients were evaluated for epithelialization, exudate amount, localized pain, localized erythema, localized edema, delayed healing, necrosis, fibrosis, final overall wound condition, final skin condition as indicators of wound healing, and signs of infection. We also employed the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) to evaluate the pain intensity.
Results: There was no difference between the two groups in terms of basic demographic variables. The results revealed no significant difference in any of the measured wound healing indicators and complications except for the epithelialization rate which was higher in the single-dressing group (8 patients in the single group vs. 0 in the intermittent group; P-value < 0.001).
Conclusion: Overall, the findings suggest that use of the intermittent dressing change protocol for CTR surgery wounds does not improve wound healing or mitigate complications, in comparison to the single dressing protocol, which is more cost-beneficial.
        Level of evidence: II
Keywords
Carpal tunnel syndrome
Early dressing removal
Mini-open carpal tunnel release
Postoperative dressing
Subjects
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The Archives of Bone and Joint Surgery
Volume 13, Issue 12
December 2025
Pages 816-822

  • Receive Date 09 April 2024
  • Revise Date 14 March 2025
  • Accept Date 05 October 2024