one-stage operation for soft-tissue missile wounds

ABSTRACT

Two hundred war-injured patients missile-inflicted soft-tissue injuries underwent a one stage operation of primary wound exision with primary suture and drainage instead of the classical two-stage operation of primary wound excision and delayed primary suture. The results in terms of morbidity [mainly septic complications] and mortality are no different from those having a two-stage operation. The two-stage operation was established in the pre-antibiotic era when debridement in its original meaning was practiced-a lesser procedure than today's wound excision. It is believed that with the available antibiotics, appropriate wound exision and pressure irrigation, a one-stage procedure with all advantages is preferred. The results of this study give support to such a policy