Many times surgical wounds require more time to heal than our expectation. It is due to the infection caused by bacteria or virus on the wound which delays the healing of wound. Wound infection may also occur when our body’s immunity get tampered for some reasons. Surgical wound infection is common and almost 7 out of 10 patients die during post-operative stage because of wound infection.
Causes :
Wound infection is caused primarily by micro-organisms like bacteria. They invade the wound originating from your skin or other parts of the body. Our body contains good bacteria that are harmless due to the protective skin layer that prevents the entry of bacteria. However when the skin is injured during surgery or wound it gives room for the bacteria to invade the inner organs. The formation of wound increases the chance of removal of protective barrier from the skin thus facilitating bacterial infection.
Bacteria would then colonize the injured area slowly causing more damage to the tissues causing inflammation. Bacteria belonging to the group of Staphylococcus commonly cause wound infection.
In some cases, contamination of surgical wounds and improper care of wound dressing may cause wound infection.
Symptoms :