Abstract
Background
Many surgical dressings claim to be waterproof and safe for bathing postoperatively.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of commonly
used dressings' ability to prevent water penetration while bathing. Additionally,
a survey was used to determine satisfaction and cost analysis performed.
Methods
Four different dressings were applied to 17 subjects' knees: Aquacel, Opsite, Acticoat,
and Tegaderm. A folded Medline Gauze Sponge was weighed and placed under each dressing
before and after showering and bathing (submergence under water) in order to measure
water penetration (change in weight of sponge in grams). A failure was defined as
any dressing that allowed a sponge weight change greater than 1 standard deviation,
or 3.9 g. All participants were additionally asked to complete a short survey after
testing about the dressings.
Results
Tegaderm was found to have significantly less water penetration than all other dressings
except Aquacel and demonstrated no failures with showering, significantly less than
all other dressings. Tegaderm was also found to have significantly less water penetration
than all other dressings except Acticoat with bathing and had significantly less failures
than all other dressings. Furthermore, Tegaderm was found to be the most comfortable
and lowest cost per dressing.
Conclusion
Tegaderm was overall the most effective at preventing water penetration, most comfortable,
and most cost-effective. Aquacel was found to be equally as effective at preventing
water penetration while showering but overall had more water penetration, had more
failures, caused more discomfort, and was more expensive.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 17, 2020
Accepted:
September 16,
2020
Received in revised form:
September 13,
2020
Received:
June 13,
2020
Footnotes
No author associated with this paper has disclosed any potential or pertinent conflicts which may be perceived to have impending conflict with this work. For full disclosure statements refer to https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arth.2020.09.023.
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
