Subcutaneous Drains Reduce the Surgical Site Infection after Primary Wound Closure in Stoma Reversal Patients

Stoma reversal is a commonly performed procedure. Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most common complications following stoma reversal with reported incidence of up to 41% [1,2]. Surgical site infection leads to increased medical cost, requires additional wound care and extra medications. It might also prolong length of hospital stay and adversely affect quality of life [3,4]. Following an episode of infection there is increased risk of wound dehiscence, incisional hernia formation and poor wound healing [15]. Surgical site infection would also increase the cost compared to unremarkable recovery [16]. Because primary wound closure has a relatively high SSI rate, several techniques have been developed to reduce the risk of SSI, including delayed primary closure [2,7] and purse-string suture (PSS) [3,8,9]. Non primary closure techniques require additional wound care and occupy more time and effort than primary wound closure [3,9].