Topical Application of Honey in Treatment of Abdominal Wound Disruption

EDITORIAL COMMENT: We accepted this paper for publication because it should interest all readers, some of whom may decide they have the occasional patient suitable for this method of honey wound care. The healed wound shown in figure (d) would be cosmetically unacceptable to most women but perhaps resuture would have had a similar result. In the editor's experience, sew sanguineous discharge from a wound postoperatively invariably means dehiscence best treated by resuture once any precipitating ileus has resolved; when the skin sutures are removed the wound falls apart in these women and usually loops of bowel are adherent to the edges of the wound (figures A and B). In the case illustrated in this paper the peritoneum appears to be intact as if the problem was an infected haematoma which is an unusual cause of wound disruption in the editor's experience; yet the authors encountered 15 cases in 19 months, and quoted no case of the complete wound dehiscence referred to above! Summary: The usefulness of honey application as an alternative method of managing abdominal wound disruption was assessed. Fifteen patients whose wound disrupted after Caesarean section were treated with honey application and wound approximation by micropore tape instead of the traditional method of wound dressing with subsequent resuturing. We achieved excellent results in all the cases with complete healing within 2 weeks. Honey application is inexpensive, effective and avoids the need to resuture which also requires general anaesthesia.