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Suggest Remedies For An Open Wound After Gall Bladder Surgery

Posted on Tue, 16 Aug 2016

Question: Hi, I had an emergency gall bladder surgery on 10/25/15. Due to a massive infection and a gallstone stuck in the pancreatic duct, the surgery could not be done laparoscopically. I ended up with a 13 inch vertical abdominal incision. I the ended up with another large surgery due to a double incisional hernia in April 2016. Due to the placement of the hernias, my original incision was reopened and extended on inch on the top and 3 inches on the bottom. After the original gallbladder surgery, I had the staples removed on the 10th day. After the second surgery the staples were removed on the 21st day due to not healing enough. After the second set of staples were finally removed, I had a small spot on my belly button the wouldn't heal, my surgeon had to debreed the area. He kept debreeding the area until I ended up with another surgery in XXXXXXX 2016. The hernia mesh became unincorporated at the wound site so he repaired that and debreeded the area again, leaving me with a 9 inch long, by 5inch wide and 4 inch deep wound and on a wound vac. I am very frustrated at this point. Even with the wound vac he has had to debreed the wound twice. I do not have diabetes and neither the surgeon nor the home health care nurses can tell me why this is happening. Also above the wound, I have rock hard swelling on both skies of the incision that is very painful. It gets worse as the day goes on. This has not been acknowledged by anyone. No one knows anything. Any answers would greatly be appreciated.

Answered by Dr. Rishi (22 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Please give some details for me to comment.

Detailed Answer:
Hello Ma'am,
Welcome to Health Care Magic.
Thank you for your question.

I need to ask a few questions before I proceed with my opinion.

What mesh was placed for the hernias and how big was it?
Did they remove any part of the mesh in any of the debridement?
How big is the wound now and is the mesh visible?
Can I see a photo of the present status of the wound?
What is your current BMI?

I think its quite a normal course of surgeries. If it is a complicated Gall bladder surgery then hernia complications are expected. You unfortunately have had the added ordeal of debridement and I can understand your pain and disbelief in the medical fraternity.

That is expected. Please do try and understand that each persons' body reacts differently to different procedures. Your body has reacted in this manner and Surgeons are by your side to overcome this issue.

Please don't give up. You need to be strong and hold in there. You will recover completely. It is not like a cancer or life threatening illness, so don't worry.

If you can send a photo I can guide you the best management modality for your wound, you can upload it in the reports section.

Take care and do let me know the answers to my questions and if there are any queries.
Dr Rishi, New XXXXXXX XXXXXXX

Note: Revert back with your health reports to get further guidance on your gastric problems. Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee