Hospital Based Retrospective Comparative Assessment of Warm & Regular Room Temperature Seitz Bath in Perineal Wound Healing

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the present study was to compare the effect of warm versus regular room temperature seitz bath.

Methods: This was a clinical retrospectively study conducted in the Department of General Surgery, RIMS, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India from Jan 2017 to December 2017. Out of 120 patients 70 patients (58.34%) opted for warm water seitz bath (Group A) and others 50 (41.66%) (Group B) opted for regular room temperature seitz bath.

Results: 70 patients (58.34%) in the study group opted for warm water seitz bath as compared to 50 patients (41.66%) of regular water seitz bath from the second day of surgery onwards. The cases who opted for regular water seitz, were in poor socioeconomic background, due to easy and frequent availability of regular water as compared to warm water. All the 20 cases of episiotomy (28.57%) wounds repaired by gynaecologist opted warm water seitz only. All the 50 patients operated for pilonidal sinus, perineal abscess and perianal fistulectomy were found to have significant discomfort in the initial 15 days to 21 days due to discharge from the wounds. But all the patients got satisfactory results with respect to the reduction in the amount of smell and discharge from wound after a period of 15 days to 21.

Conclusion: The progress of wound healing and postoperative comfort in operated perineal surgical wound does not based on type of seitz bath and the antiseptic solution used for sitz bath. But it is found that the frequency of sitz bath and subsequent improvement in the local hygiene definitely give comfort to the patient and speeds up wound healing.

Keywords: Seitz bath, Perineal wound healing, Duration of recovery, Hygiene