Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most common postoperative complications and occurs in at least five percent of all patients undergoing surgery. The rate of SSI is significantly higher after open abdominal surgery which can carry an SSI risk of up to 40% depending on the level of contamination.  SSI can double the length of time a patient stays in hospital and thereby increase the costs of health care.

Recent national guidelines concerning the prevention and treatment of SSI have been issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical excellence (NICE). Wound-edge protection devices are not discussed in these guidelines due to the paucity of published research into their use and efficacy in the prevention of infection.

Some surgeons advocate the use of a wound edge protector or ‘wound guard’ to reduce SSI. There are several different devices on the market but they all share the same basic design - a semi-rigid plastic ring placed into the abdomen via the laparotomy wound to which an impervious drape is circumferentially attached.

Funded by the National Institute for Health Research: Research for Patient Benefit, we are working with the West Midlands Research Collaborative on a prospective multicentre randomised controlled trial to determine the value of wound protectors.  

The primary outcome is to prevent Surgical Site Infection (SSI) within 30 days of surgery.

For further information, please see the trial website http://www.rossini.bham.ac.uk  or contact David Bartlett or Thomas Pinkney