Is time to closure a factor in the occurrence of infection in traumatic wounds? A prospective cohort study in a Dutch level 1 trauma centre

Background The dogma that traumatic wounds should not be sutured after 6 h is based on an animal experiment by P L Friedrich in 1898. There is no adequately powered prospective study on this cut-off of 6 h to confirm or disprove the dogma. The aim of this study was to provide evidence against the dogma that wounds should be sutured within 6 h after trauma. Method 425 patients were included in a prospective cohort study. Patients' wounds were closed, independent of time after trauma. All patients were seen after 7–10 days for removal of stitches and w... Mehr ...