Wound Dressings for Obese Women After Cesarean Delivery

To the Editor In their recent article, Dr Tuuli and colleagues1 found no difference in the rates of superficial or deep surgical site infection between obese women randomized to prophylactic negative pressure wound therapy vs standard wound dressing after cesarean delivery. We have some concerns, however, about how the standard wound dressings were managed in this study. Negative pressure dressings are designed to be kept intact for a relatively long period on closed incisions, while typical surgical dressings are changed more frequently. In this study, the dressings in the control group were removed after 24 hours. However, the authors did not provide any data about whether these wounds were redressed, frequency of dressing changes, or whether there was any change in the type of dressing after the initial postoperative dressing was removed. Variations in these factors are potential confounders that make it difficult to draw conclusions about the comparative efficacy of negative pressure wound therapy in obese women after cesarean delivery.