Surgical dressing for patients undergoing hip or knee arthroplasty

A variety of surgical wound dressings are currently available including gauze, foam, bead, alginate, antimicrobial, semi-permeable films, hydrocolloid, and hydrogel.3,4 The present review was undertaken to explore and summarize the evidence for the clinical and cost-effectiveness of surgical wound dressings used in hip or knee arthroplasty, with the aim of informing decisions to optimize clinical [...] The authors concluded that hydrofibre dressings have a potential role and should be considered in the management of wounds left to heal by primary intention in hip and knee arthroplasty, and that further trials are needed to assess their impact on the prevention of wound infections. [...] Eighty-eight patients had a fractured neck of the femur, 57 had osteoarthritis of the knee, 36 had osteoarthritis of the hip, and two had avascular necrosis of the hip. [...] The authors did not report the distribution of baseline characteristics with respect to treatment group, however based on information reported on number of wound dressing changes and pain scores, the distribution of type of surgery appeared comparable in the two groups. [...] The authors noted that a shortcoming of the study was that the decision to change a dressing was based on the clinical judgment of the nursing staff and that this judgment may have been inconsistent across staff.