Wound infection: diagnosis
Last reviewed: 19.10.2021
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
The leading method for diagnosing wound infection is clinical. Inspection and sounding of the wound: with an infection located in the cellulose, the leading signs are infiltration and tenderness of the suture, with suppuration, there is skin hyperemia and areas of fluctuations. With hematomas of subcutaneous tissue, there is usually an imbibition of the skin with blood in the appropriate area. The diagnosis is easily confirmed by dilution of the edges of the cutaneous wound.
Podoponeurotic hematomas are more difficult to diagnose. The visible asymmetry of the anterior abdominal wall is observed only in patients with massive hematomas (volume more than a liter). To confirm the diagnosis in the presence of clinical data allows finger revision of the subaroneurotic space. This manipulation also allows the evacuation of small in volume hematomas.
The data of laboratory studies reflect the fact of the inflammatory process and suppuration (leukocytosis, a moderate shift of the leukocyte formula to the left, an increase in ESR).
In the presence of suppurative hematomas, anemia is detected in the patients, then changes in the blood that are indicative of inflammation are attached.
The echography of the anterior abdominal wall can be used to confirm the diagnosis. The method is effective in the presence of infiltrates (localization, size, zones of abscess formation) in the cellulose and hematomas or abscesses in the soft tissues of the subaroneurotic space.