Anal fistula is one of the common diseases in proctology, accounting for about 1.67%~3.60% of the incidence of anorectal diseases. Usually, surgery is adopted to treat anal fistula. After surgery, the wound is open and often accompanied by local pain, excessive exudation, slow granulation tissue growth, slow healing, and other situations, which are prone to recurrence and bring great pain to patients. The main reasons for recurrence are that the internal opening was not thoroughly cleared during the surgery, or the main duct, branch duct, and ineffective sinus tract were not cleaned thoroughly. Postoperative dressing is also one of the reasons, which directly affects wound repair. Therefore, proper dressing change is conducive to wound healing, can shorten the treatment time, and prevent anal fistula recurrence.
The application of alginate dressings in anal fistula surgery
Anal fistula is a chronic disease that is difficult to heal and often recurs, seriously affecting the lives and daily work of patients. Therefore, patients hope to relieve pain as soon as possible. The main method for the cure of complex anal fistulas is to implement surgery. After successful surgery, postoperative dressing change becomes a key link in the successful treatment of complex anal fistulas. Due to the open wound after anal fistula surgery, postoperative complications often include local pain, itching, wound leakage, and the wound is susceptible to fecal contamination, which can cause local inflammation and swelling, aggravating pain.
According to traditional theory, the local vein and lymphatic circulation pathway is destroyed by the surgical margin, and tissue fluid retention causes pain. In addition, injury from clamping, ligation, traction during surgery, and postoperative wound infection can cause congestion, pain, and exudation. Therefore, it is particularly important to use effective medical dressing methods to reduce wound pain and itching, reduce exudation, promote granulation tissue growth, prevent anal stenosis, and shorten the healing time.
Alginate dressing is composed of soft seaweed and calcium acid fibers, which are very suitable for stuffing and covering wounds. When it is in contact with sodium salts in blood and wound secretions, it completes an ion-exchange reaction through calcium sodium ions and converts into a gel-like substance (wet gel). According to the theory of moist environment healing, keeping the incision base in a moist state can stimulate capillary regeneration, a large amount of granulation tissue formation, and rapid epithelial regeneration. Alginate dressing's gel-like substance is beneficial to coagulate and stop bleeding in the early stage of trauma, and its powerful absorption ability allows necrotic tissue and exudation to be absorbed by its fibers and preserved into the formed gel body, cleanses the wound, inhibits bacterial growth, and is therefore very suitable for the special wound of anal fistula surgery. Compared with traditional vaseline gauze dressing, alginate dressing is superior to vaseline gauze dressing in the dressing change method for anal fistula surgery.
Alginate dressing reduces postoperative pain in anal fistula
The postoperative dressing change with alginate dressings not only can reduce wound pain and itching, reduce wound exudation, but also shorten the granulation tissue growth stage, shorten the wound healing time and dressing change time, prevent anal stenosis, and improve clinical treatment satisfaction. It is one of the ideal dressing materials for postoperative wounds in complex anal fistulas.
