Study to Evaluate DACC Dressings for the Prevention of Surgical Site Infections in Women Undergoing Caesarean Section.

Surgical site infections (SSIs) constitute an important medical and socioeconomic problem worldwide. Despite the fact that the risk factors for SSIs were identified and the continuously increasing medical knowledge in the fields of tissue engineering, molecular biology and microbiology facilitated the development of numerous new recommendations and methods for management, in many cases the available options for successful treatment of post-operative wound infections remain limited. Non-treated or inappropriately treated SSIs often lead to necrosis of the surrounding tissues, wound dehiscence, formation of fistulas, or become sites of origin for systemic infections. Patients are exposed to risk of further complications and hospitalization time extends resulting in increased total treatment costs. Treatment prolongation affects also the quality of life and psychosocial functioning of patients with impaired wound healing. Considering the arguments above, appropriate prevention and management of infected post-surgical wounds is currently one of the priorities for the majority of invasive medical disciplines. Obstetrics constitute a field of medicine in which the issues associated with wound healing are particularly relevant. According to the literature data wound infections occur in approximately 1.8-11.3% of women undergoing caesarean section. Dialkylcarbamoyl chloride (DACC) is a fatty acid derivative that irreversibly binds microorganisms to the dressing fibres as a result of hydrophobic interaction. As the mechanism of DACC action is solely physical no chemical agents are released into the wound bed and the dressing could be safely used by women during puerperal period. The purpose of this randomized controlled study is to compare the effect of DACC impregnated dressing and standard surgical dressing in the prevention of SSIs in adult women following caesarean section. This study will also evaluate pre-, peri- and postoperative risk factors of SSIs and analyze he