Desparate need of help regarding my OR paper

[sarahziebarth]

I already have this in the OR section but trying to get an answer quick.

I am trying to finish typing up a paper I had to write on my OR experience from last week and I did not get information on the wound closure and dressings that were used. I know my PT was given a JP drain. The surgery was a Laproscopic Robotic Prostatectomy. If anyone has any info on this it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance :heartbeat

[realnursealso/LPN, LPN]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=+Laproscopic+Robotic+Prostatectomy&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=

Google, took just a second.

[sarahziebarth]

Thanks I tried that first but it does not give me the dressings that would be used on the PT as well as wound closure information that I need.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

These are things that can be very surgeon specific. We have some who only close fascia, and then use steri-strips for skin. We have some that close facia and then use Dermabond on skin. Then there are those who suture fascia and skin. As far as dressings- toppers, bandaids, tegaderm, or nothing if they've used Dermabond.

[lily_lover]

the wound class is usually a class 2, provided no evidence of infection. 4x4's are usually used as dressings around a drain, and the other dressings are the preference of the surgeon. It can be telfa's, abd's, 4x4's or no dressings if they use dermabond or indermil. hope that helps.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

Contact the nurses in OR and Recovery who normally work with that surgeon, or even contact the surgeon or any house staff who might have been involved in the procedure.

You might even go read the patient's chart and see if anyone describes the wound dressing, if any. You can check the OR nurse's note, the surgeon's operative note, the recovery room nurse's note, the floor nurse's note if he was an inpatient.

If the patient is discharged, the chart will be in Medical Records or whatever that's called where you are (maybe Health Information Management). If it's not there, maybe they can tell you who has it signed out - most likely the surgeon or house staff involved, if any.

Be sure to take your student ID and maybe another form of ID to Med Rec. You might be surprised to see that you are listed on the OR nurse's sheet as being present.

You might even call in advance, to see if the chart is available.

[nursejessemac]

If you have time and access you can get the specifics of the closure from the dictation of the procedure in the patients chart. If not, you can not go wrong with saying that the wound was closed using 3.0 vicryl, then with a 4.0 monocryl approxmating the skin edges. The surgical incision was then dressed in a sterile fashion with telfa, and op-site. This is a standard closure and dressing for this procedure and should not be questioned.

Your experience paper is not to concentrate on the details of the closure, but on the experience of the sterile technique and the roles of the participates in the Operating room suite. If you did not need to or want to create a version of the closure. you could simply say that the closure was performed intraoperatively prior to extubation, in a sterile fashion and that the patient left the OR with the dressing intake for transport to the PACU.

jesse

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

So how's it going? Did you get the information you needed? How?