Wound care after weight-loss surgery
Description
An incision is a cut through the skin that is made during surgery. It also called a surgical wound. Some incisions are small, as in laparoscopic surgery, and others are very long. The size of your incision will depend on the kind of surgery you had.
What to expect
You may have bruising around your wound. This is normal. It will go away on its own. The skin around your incision may be a little red. This is normal, too.
DO NOT wear tight clothing that rubs against your incisions while they heal.
If you have bandages (dressings) on your wounds, keep them clean and dry. If you have staples or the kind of stitches that need to be removed, they will be removed about 7 to 10 days after surgery. Other kinds of stitches dissolve on their own.
Unless you are told otherwise, you may shower several days after your operation. Check with your health care provider. When you can shower, let water run over your incision, but do not scrub it or let the water beat down on it. DO NOT soak in a bathtub, hot tub, or swimming pool until your doctor tells you to. If you have tape on your wounds, you may pat it dry with a towel.
Changing your bandage
You may change the dressing every day if your surgeon tells you so. Be sure to change your dressing if it gets dirty or wet.
Remove the old dressing:
- Carefully loosen the tape. Use a clean (not sterile) medical glove to grab the old dressing and pull it off.
- If the dressing sticks to the wound, get it wet and try again, unless you are told otherwise.
- Put the old dressing in a plastic bag and set it aside.
- Clean your hands after you take off the old dressing.
Check your wound for signs of infection. These include severe swelling, increasing redness, and drainage with a bad odor.
Care for the wound:
- Soak some clean gauze or Q-tips with saline or soapy water. Your provider will tell you what you should be using.
- Gently dab or wipe from one end of the incision to the other.
- DO NOT try to wash or peel off the Steri-Strips or glue. They will come off on their own.
- DO NOT put any lotion, cream, or herbal remedies on or around your wound, unless you are told to do so by your provider.
- Avoid touching and probing your incision.
Place the clean dressing on the wound as your provider taught you to. Clean your hands when you are finished.
Open wounds
Sometimes, a surgical wound will break open (wound dehiscence). This may happen along the entire cut or just part of it. Your doctor may decide not to close it again, but to let it heal by slowly closing.
If your doctor does not close your wound again with sutures, you will need to learn how to care for it at home, since it may take time to heal. The wound will heal from the inside to the outside. The dressings help to soak up any drainage and to keep the skin from closing before the wound underneath fills in.
Call your doctor if
You see any of these changes around your incision:
- More redness
- More pain
- Swelling
- Bleeding
- The wound is larger or deeper
The drainage coming from or around your incision:
- Does not decrease after several days
- Is increasing
- Becomes thick, tan, or yellow, or smells bad (pus)
Your temperature is above 100°F (37.7°C) for more than 4 hours.
Reviewed By: John E. Meilahn, MD, Bariatric Surgery, Chestnut Hill Surgical Associates, Philadelphia, PA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
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