Management of a Dehisced Hand Wound Using Hydrogen Peroxide, Electrical Stimulation, Silver-containing Dressings, and Compression: A Case Study

Department

Health Promotion

Document Type

Article

Publication Source

Ostomy Wound Management

Publication Date

2015-07-01

Volume

61

Issue

7

First Page

32

Last Page

37

Abstract

Wound dehiscence is the separation of a wound along surgical sutures. A 57-year-old, otherwise healthy mechanic presented with a large open wound of >1 month duration on his left hand. His wound had dehisced after treatment that involved cleansing, surgical sutures, and oral antibiotics. He presented with a 5.0 cm x 0.7 cm x 0.3 cm lesion through the palmar creases of the hand with edema around the fourth and fifth digits and a callous formation around the distal portion of the wound. The wound had scant serosanguinous drainage and some induration at the periwound area, as well as a moderate foul odor. Tendons were not affected, but function was limited, the hand was painful, and the patient had been unable to work. Treatment was initiated with twice-a-week immersion of the hand in hydrogen peroxide diluted with water subjected to high-voltage pulsed current electric stimulation (HVPC). The wound was dressed with silver-containing dressings secured with stretch gauze and a compression garment. The wound was completely closed after 9 visits (35 days). No functional limitations of the hand or fingers, no cosmetic defect, and no wound recurrence were noted 9 months after healing. Although uncommon, dehisced wounds, especially in certain anatomical locations such as the hand, can be difficult to heal and may cause long-term problems with functioning. The treatment combination facilitated expedient healing of this dehisced hand wound. Research is needed to help elucidate the observations from this case study.

Keywords

case study, electric stimulation, hand, silver, surgical wound dehiscence

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