The closure of abdominal wounds in cancer patients.

A total of 102 abdominal surgical wounds in cancer patients were closed with absorbable suture material. The object of the study was to evaluate whether patients with cancer having possible wound healing impairments could be closed with absorbable sutures, thereby omitting the difficulties involved with retention sutures or nonabsorbable material. Polyglycolic acid sutures were used in the fascia in all of these patients, and they were studied regarding the incidence of wound infection, wound dehiscence, and incisional hernias. There were no instances of wound dehiscence in the entire series. A wound infection rate of 14.8% was encountered. The incidence of incisional hernia following either infection or primary healing was noted to be markedly decreased. The rate of wound dehiscence and wound hernia was sufficiently low to lead us to recommend this type of abdominal wound closure in all cancer patients.