Stomach puncture wounds following heart surgery

[Knavesmire27]

5 weeks in following open heart surgery and a subsequent pacemaker fitting the 3 puncture wounds in my stomach are still causing me problems. My other wounds seem to be healing nicely but am still having to wear dressings on the 3 puncture wounds. They are still weeping and causing problems. Ahd I seem to have an allergic reaction to the wound dressings so the nurses keep trying different ones. Has anyone else had similar problems or any tips on how to help them heal quicker?

[PadThaiNoodles]

Mine did the same. Finally dried up at 44 days, and healed over at 52 days. My surgeon recommended keeping them uncovered as much as possible.

[Wonky_heart]

One tip if you are getting sensitive to the dressings is to put some Cavalon on the skin first, let it dry, then apply the dressing. It creates a barrier between the dressing and the skin, but doesn't stop it sticking. Hospitals use it a lot. You can get Cavalon from the chemist or amazon

[Murderfan58]

This isn't the same thing . But many years ago I fell out the back door of my old house and slammed my ankle just about the ankle bone on the door ceil and it turned into an ulcer 4"long by 2" wide . The nurse at my then practice gave me KerraMax dressing . They are ideal for sensitive skin and come in variety of sizes . They are flat but contain gel which absorbs moisture and drew away the fluid leaking from my ulcer . Had to change the dressing several times a day for a month and as it healed not so often . Took 5 months to completely heal but I had no infection.Should say after 2 months stayed with my mom for 3 months after her second mastectomy and got her district nurse to get the same dressing for my mom's wound. I am proud to say even though we both had open wounds neither of us got an infection.

This again is years ago when my daughter was in her late teens had an injection and the site wouldn't heal so the nurse used a dressing made from seaweed it healed within a week .

No idea if any of this is helpful. But if I have a wound that won't heal because I am on blood thinners now, I go back to KerraMax dressings which I buy myself. And it heals .

[Murderfan58]

Should say you use the dressing dry no cream as it will stop the dressing working .

[JSCAPM]

My partner had OHS five months ago. One of his wounds (a drain puncture) hasn’t healed yet and he’s seeing the district nurse weekly. Initially it seemed to be healing, then it became infected and he had to take antibiotics. Various medical people have looked at it and some thought a suture might have been left in it, but the surgical nurses said not. The infection has now cleared, however the wound hasn’t healed and has turned into a granuloma (small nodule).

Not sure that this has helped you! In terms of treatment, the nurses first tried ‘packing’ it, then used a silver nitrate dressing. The current regime is using a steroid cream. In the last couple of weeks it has started to look less ‘angry’ and does seem to be on the mend.

Hope it’s soon healed for you.

[Knavesmire27]

Thank you all so much for your replies. Yes, they are all very helpful and it is reassuring to know that I am not alone in this. It really does help so thank you.

[Frogman53]

I had an infection in one of my stomach drain wounds..local nurse gave me seaweed dressings, cleared it up nicely.

[fishonabike]

A wound care nurse should be able to advise you. The staff caring for you may already have consulted one to ask for advice.

The main dressings which people are sensitive to are old fashioned elastoplast type stuff (rarely used now for that reason) and micropore, which is meant to be hypoallergenic but isn't always (as I found out) - but your skin can be sensitive to all sorts of things without being allergic there is an important difference

I hope you find a helpful solution soon and that the wounds soon heal fully

[LaceyLady]

link to read up on Cavalon

3m.co.uk/3M/en_GB/Cavilon-D...

[Qualipop]

A friend of mine gets ulcers on his legs because of poor circulation. They just don't heal. After months of trying different dressings, the wound care nurse eventually use manuka honey. She puts it on the ulcer, covers it with a dressing which has to stay on - no washing or changing it , for two weeks. It works beautifully.. It's available on the NHS. I think you need to see a wound care nurse. You could also ask to have your zinc levels tested. It's essential for healing. In his youth my son suffered badly c racked, bleeding feet. He had to wrap them in zinc coated bandages and take zinc supplements.