Delayed and recurring infection in postoperative abdominal wounds.

Delayed and recurring wound infection in the abdominal wall of twenty-five patients, producing a variety of signs and symptoms months or years after original operations, were most frequently associated with silk sutures and endogenous infection due to Escherichia coli. The restorative procedures employed at a small community hospital varied from incision and drainage to en bloc wound excision. Timing of operations, culture data, pre- and postoperative antibiotics, and changes in the type of suture material were important adjuncts to therapy.