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Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics
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THR: Wound Closure

    - place leg on padded Mayo stand in 10 deg of abduction to relieve tension on leg;
    - deep soft tissue repair:
            - repair of posterior capsule and reattachment of the external rotators (which may help to decrease posterior dislocation);
            - there is some evidence to suggest that external rotator muscle repair is doomed to failure;
            - references:
                  - Failure of reinserted short external rotator muscles after total hip arthroplasty
                  - Hip Mechanics After Posterior Structure Repair in Total Hip Arthroplasty.
                  - Failure of Capsular Enhanced Short External Rotator Repair After Total Hip Replacement.
    - wheel vac:
            - inorder to address wound complications that may arise from aggressive CPM activity, consider an inexpensive vaccum suction device;
            - technique:
                - apply several layers of gauze over the incision;
                - apply a "jackson pratt" type drain over the gauze (multi holed tube is positioned over the gauze) with the non-fenestrated
                          portion of the tubing exiting outside the gauze;
                - "tegaderm" is applied over the gauze and the tubing;
                - hook the tubing upto the hospital suction at 125 mm HG;
    - superficial closure:
            - references:
                - Should we still stitch the subcutaneous fat layer A clinical and ultrasound assessment in 50 hip operations.
                - Comparative study of skin closure in hip surgery.
                - Is a fat stitch required when closing a hip hemiarthroplasty wound without a drain?

                - Inverted running interlocking suture (IRIS): a technique for rapid closure of wounds.
                - Delayed wound healing and nutritional deficiencies after total hip arthroplasty.
    - need to drain THR is controversial:
            - some surgeons place one drain deep to fascia, and if the patient is obese, then one drain superficial;
            - references:
                - Closed wound drainage in total hip or total knee replacement. A prospective, randomized study.
                - The effect of suction drains after total hip replacement.
                - The use of postoperative suction drainage in total hip arthroplasty.
                - The efficacy of suction drains after routine total joint arthroplasty
                - Why use drains
                - The effect of suction drains after total hip replacement.
                - Closed Suction Drainage for Hip and Knee Arthroplasty. A Meta-Analysis.
                - A prospective, randomised, controlled trial of the use of drains in total hip arthroplasty.
                - Simplified wound care and earlier wound recovery without closed suction drainage in elective total hip arthroplasty. A prospective randomized trial in 100 operations.













Original Text by Clifford R. Wheeless, III, MD.