A New Dressing System Reduces the Number of Dressing Changes in the Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Shilong Su; Juan He; Chenggong Wang; Fawei Gao; Da Zhong; Pengfei Lei

doi:10.3389/fsurg.2022.800850

A New Dressing System Reduces the Number of Dressing Changes in the Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Front Surg. 2022 May 3:9:800850. doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2022.800850. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Shilong Su^{1

2}, Juan He³, Chenggong Wang¹, Fawei Gao¹, Da Zhong^{1

4}, Pengfei Lei^{1

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Orthopedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
² Department of Orthopedics, The First Hospital of Changsha, Changsha, China.
³ College of Stomatology, Changsha Medical University, Changsha, China.
⁴ Hunan Key Laboratary of Aging Biology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
⁵ Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
⁶ Hunan Engineering Research Center of Biomedical Metal and Ceramic Implants, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.

Abstract

Purpose: We devised a novel dressing system to accelerate the recovery after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical outcomes and economic expenses of the new dressing system.

Methods: In this randomized and controlled trial, we enrolled 98 patients who underwent the first unilateral TKA between September 2020 and June 2021. The patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the intervention (the new dressing system group) or the control (the traditional gauze dressing) group. We gathered and evaluated patient data including age, gender, body mass index, surgical side, number of dressing changes, post-operative hospital stay, dressing-related expense, satisfaction, pain and function scores, wound scores and wound-related complications.

Results: The number of dressing changes and post-operative hospital stay in the intervention group were significantly less than in the control group (p = 0.000, p = 0.002). Satisfaction in the intervention group was significantly higher than in the control group's (p = 0.000). There were no significant differences between the two groups in dressing-related expense, pain and function scores. During the one month follow-up, the intervention group's Stony Brook Scar Evaluation Scale (SBSES) was considerably higher than the control group's (p = 0.012).

Conclusion: The new dressing system can reduce the number of dressing changes and post-operative hospital stays while increasing patient satisfaction with no difference in medical costs in TKA. This wound dressing system has potential for application in TKA.

Clinical trial registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov, identifier ChiCTR2000033814.

Keywords: dressing; dressing change; satisfaction; total knee arthroplasty; wound.