Abstract
Recently, new management of surgical wounds has spread among various facilities. We modified the conventional management of wounds in clean-uncontaminated head and neck surgery. This study compared the conventional method with the altered method, regarding the incidence of compli-cations such as surgical site infection, blood examination, and cost. From January 2004 to March 2005, the conventional management of wounds in head and neck sur-gery was administered in 65 patients. From April 2005 to December 2005, the altered management was administered in 57 patients. Both groups were well matched for age, sex, and site of operation. A film dressing was applied to the surgical wound immediately after surgery and left in place, and disinfectant was not applied to the wound until the sutures were removed in the altered manage-ment. An antibiotic dosage was given once during surgery in the altered method. Postoperatively, no antibiotics were given basically. On the other hand, the conventional dry gauze dressings were changed daily, and disinfectant was applied to the surgical wound in the conventional management.
