Reaction to stitches???

[Guest]

Hi--I am 7 weeks out from OHS. The first 4 weeks my incision looked basically fine and was closed. At 5 weeks the very bottom opened a bit....I went in and they removed two "knots"...the end of the stitching which I was told sometimes doesn't dissolve as fast and causes irritation. That spot is now fully healed (I think!)

However, the incision above seemed to get redder near the incision line....saw the surgeon for 6 wk. check...he said it looked fine. This week a small spot opened in one of the angrier areas...bled a bit, one drop of creamy looking stuff...next day opened further until it is almost an inch. Last night I got a small opening almost at the top...again a drop of blood, one of creamy stuff, and then a bit of blood. Today I went back in....the PA (same one I saw 2 weeks ago) examined it.....said there was really no sign of infection and that it is not infrequent to have this sort of thing as a reaction to the sutures. She would put me on antibiotics if I was really ill at ease, but she did not think they were needed.

For the last 2 weeks I have been putting on hot wet packs twice a day in addition to washing (gently) with antiobiotic soap in the shower. Directions are to keep doing this; cover with gauze if it is weeping; otherwise leave it open.

Anyone else have this happen? I am discouraged.....7 weeks!!!

Pat

 

[Bina]

Pat, I had the same thing.....and mine went on for much longer than 7 weeks. You are wise to keep getting it checked.
My home nurse had me rinse it with sterile saline solution, pat dry with gauze, apply triple antibiotic cream, and gauze pads over night.
It was terribly depressing, but will pass.

 

[Doug]

I had something similar in 1988 after exploratory surgery in my lower torso. They used staples and I ended up with a couple of spots that sound like that.
For my OHS, the surgeon glued the skin together and I had not issues with the incision opening up.

 

[mainframe]

I have the same thing happening now. My primary doc called it excessive granulation. It discharges a creamy/clear substance. I pat it dry and put a big bandaid on it twice a day. I was sent to a general surgeon who told me it was most likey sternal wires that were causing it. He told me if it didn't heal in a couple of months to give him a call and he would remove the sternal wires. It's been going on for a couple of weeks and getting rather tiresome.

 

[Bina]

I'll add some more info, but don't worry, cuz I am an incredibly slow healing weirdo.
My home nurse had the oozing of debris under control after several weeks and then I cared for the incision on my own.
Then there was only clear leakage at times, however the top did stay open for months.
It would just pop open again, or I would scratch it during the night. The skin was paper thin and just wouldn't stick shut. We made various types of bandages to cover it since the surrounding skin suffered from reactions to glue.
I never applied any type of scar healing creams and now the scar is a flat pale line with the top 1/2 inch being a bit darker pink from scarring.
Seeing as I had staples in for too long, then steri strips on for too long, and a bunch of bad drugs in my system, it's no wonder that the healing process got dragged out.

 

[escargome]

I didn't have any problem with my incision, but my spouse has an inordinate allergy to internal sutures, which twice have caused a lot of stuff to drain from incision site. So keep on top of the oozing and if you think necessary, have doctor do a culture of the ooze just in case.