Surgical wound dehiscence in an Australian community nursing service: Time and cost to healing
Objective: Surgical wound dehiscence (SWD) increases the length of hospital stay and impacts on patient wellbeing and health-care costs. Globally, the health-care costs associated with SWD are poorly reported and those reported are frequently associated with surgical site infection (SSI), rather tha...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Mark Allen Publishing Ltd.
2016
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/46476 |
| _version_ | 1848757568519798784 |
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| author | Sandy-Hodgetts, K. Leslie, Gavin Lewin, G. Hendrie, D. Carville, K. |
| author_facet | Sandy-Hodgetts, K. Leslie, Gavin Lewin, G. Hendrie, D. Carville, K. |
| author_sort | Sandy-Hodgetts, K. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Objective: Surgical wound dehiscence (SWD) increases the length of hospital stay and impacts on patient wellbeing and health-care costs. Globally, the health-care costs associated with SWD are poorly reported and those reported are frequently associated with surgical site infection (SSI), rather than dehiscence of non-microbial cause. This retrospective study describes and reports on the costs and time to healing associated with a number of surgical patients who were referred to a community nursing service for treatment of an SWD following discharge from a metropolitan hospital, in Perth, Western Australia. Method: Descriptive statistical analysis was carried out to describe the patient, wound and treatment characteristics. A costing analysis was conducted to investigate the cost of healing these wounds. Results: Among the 70 patients referred with a SWD, 55% were treated for an infected wound dehiscence which was a significant factor (p=0.001). Overall, the cost of treating the 70 patients with a SWD in a community nursing service was in excess of $56,000 Australian dollars (AUD) (£28,705) and did not include organisational overheads or travel costs for nurse visits. The management of infection contributed to 67% of the overall cost. Conclusion: SWD remains an unquantified aspect of wound care from a prevalence and fiscal point of view. Further work needs to be done in the identification of SWD and which patients may be 'at risk'. Declaration of interest: The authors declare they have no competing interests. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T09:30:10Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-46476 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T09:30:10Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Mark Allen Publishing Ltd. |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-464762017-09-13T13:39:37Z Surgical wound dehiscence in an Australian community nursing service: Time and cost to healing Sandy-Hodgetts, K. Leslie, Gavin Lewin, G. Hendrie, D. Carville, K. Objective: Surgical wound dehiscence (SWD) increases the length of hospital stay and impacts on patient wellbeing and health-care costs. Globally, the health-care costs associated with SWD are poorly reported and those reported are frequently associated with surgical site infection (SSI), rather than dehiscence of non-microbial cause. This retrospective study describes and reports on the costs and time to healing associated with a number of surgical patients who were referred to a community nursing service for treatment of an SWD following discharge from a metropolitan hospital, in Perth, Western Australia. Method: Descriptive statistical analysis was carried out to describe the patient, wound and treatment characteristics. A costing analysis was conducted to investigate the cost of healing these wounds. Results: Among the 70 patients referred with a SWD, 55% were treated for an infected wound dehiscence which was a significant factor (p=0.001). Overall, the cost of treating the 70 patients with a SWD in a community nursing service was in excess of $56,000 Australian dollars (AUD) (£28,705) and did not include organisational overheads or travel costs for nurse visits. The management of infection contributed to 67% of the overall cost. Conclusion: SWD remains an unquantified aspect of wound care from a prevalence and fiscal point of view. Further work needs to be done in the identification of SWD and which patients may be 'at risk'. Declaration of interest: The authors declare they have no competing interests. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/46476 10.12968/jowc.2016.25.7.377 Mark Allen Publishing Ltd. restricted |
| spellingShingle | Sandy-Hodgetts, K. Leslie, Gavin Lewin, G. Hendrie, D. Carville, K. Surgical wound dehiscence in an Australian community nursing service: Time and cost to healing |
| title | Surgical wound dehiscence in an Australian community nursing service: Time and cost to healing |
| title_full | Surgical wound dehiscence in an Australian community nursing service: Time and cost to healing |
| title_fullStr | Surgical wound dehiscence in an Australian community nursing service: Time and cost to healing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Surgical wound dehiscence in an Australian community nursing service: Time and cost to healing |
| title_short | Surgical wound dehiscence in an Australian community nursing service: Time and cost to healing |
| title_sort | surgical wound dehiscence in an australian community nursing service: time and cost to healing |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/46476 |