Surgeon/nurses never told me how to pack fiance's wound. Need help please!

[pnkrocdevil]

Hi,

I'm just a pre-nursing student here so I need some instructions (that the hospital staff didn't explain to me) on how to pack a wound. My fiance just had surgery today to remove the remains of a sebaceous cyst that abscessed on his left shoulder. The surgeon told me he didn't close the wound because he removed a lot of infection today, and that the dressings would need to be changed 2x daily along with a saline flush each time. He did say it needed to be packed. I thought I would find some basic instructions online how to do this, but have found many different approaches. I will call the surgeon in the morning once his office opens at 9 but the dressings will need to be changed before then. So how do I do this? The wound is approximately 1cm deep and I was instructed to use 2x2 sterile gauze. Will I need to use sterile tweezers or can I use my hands to remove/replace the packing? Do I jut pull it out or wet it down first so it doesn't stick to the wound? Do I soak the gauze in the solution or put it in dry? Thanks to anyone in advance for guiding me through this and hopefully making it less painful on my poor patient.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I hope your fiance recuperates swiftly, and that his surgical wound heals without any complications. However, the members of these forums cannot advise you on the packing of this wound, since this would violate our terms of service. Absolutely no medical advice is to be exchanged.

My suggestion is to call the surgeon (or your fiance's PCP) now, speak to their answering service, and demand to get through to someone.