Hydrocolloid dressing versus conventional wound care after dermatologic surgery.

BACKGROUND

Hydrocolloid dressings (HCD) are helpful in chronic wound care, but research is limited in acute postoperative wounds. HCD can potentially be incorporated into a simplified wound care regimen after excisional surgeries.

OBJECTIVE

To examine whether a one-time HCD application after dermatologic surgery results in greater patient satisfaction and improved postoperative outcomes compared with conventional daily dressings (CDD).

METHODS

We examined patients who underwent Mohs or standard surgical excision with linear closure followed by HCD. The patients additionally had a history of excisional surgery with CDD in the past 5 years. A modified version of the validated Bluebelle Wound Healing Questionnaire was administered.

RESULTS

The survey response rate was 74.4% (64/86). Compared with CDD, HCD rated higher in comfort, convenience, scar appearance, and simplicity of wound care instructions ( < .0001). Nearly all patients (96.8%) preferred HCD over CDD.

LIMITATIONS

Variability in time from prior dermatologic surgery may introduce recall bias. Prior surgeries involving CDD were sometimes performed by a different surgeon, which could introduce other confounding factors.

CONCLUSIONS

A simplified wound care regimen involving HCD can potentially lead to increased comfort, convenience, simplicity, and a subjective improvement in scar appearance, though additional studies are needed.