Comparison of Wound Infection after Reversal of Loop Ileostomy in Linear versus Purse-String Skin Closure of Stoma Site

Introduction: Loop Ileostomy is a surgical procedure which is done to divert intestinal contents away from distal bowel to allow healing of the distal anastomosis and also for the relieve of obstruction in emergency situations. Reversal is done through local stoma site via linear closure technique as the standard procedure. Surgical site infection is the most commonly occurring & morbid complications of this technique and it can be reduced if closure is done by Purse string method.  The aim of this study was to determine the more effective method of the two in terms of post-op surgical site infection. Material & Methods: This Randomized Controlled Trial was conducted for six-month duration in Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi. Reversal patients presenting in outdoor-department were included and allocated randomly into either Purse-String closure group or linear skin closure group. Follow-up was done for thirty days and wound infection was identified by presence of purulent discharge from incision site. Organisms were isolated from fluid culture or tissue culture from the wound or abscess. Results: We included a total of 90 patients in this study. 45 patients were randomly alloted to each group. The two groups were matched for various entry parameters. Wound infection was observed among 27(60%) in the linear closure group whereas 12(26.7%) in the purse-string group developed wound infection. This difference was statistically significant. Conclusion: Given the low rate of associated wound infection, purse string closure of stoma reversal is recommended to be the preferred procedure for ileostomy reversal. Key words: Loop Ileostomy, Linear closure, Purse string closure, Wound infection