Contact & wound assessment

If you are worried now

If the incision has parted and bowel or deeper tissue is visible in the gap, if bleeding does not stop with firm pressure, if there is fever with chills or shivering, redness spreading with heat and hardness, difficulty breathing or chest pain, or feeling faint or unable to keep fluids down, go to the nearest emergency department immediately or call emergency services. Cover the wound with a clean dressing first and take your discharge summary. This website is not an emergency channel and is not monitored as one.

When to call rather than attend

An incision that has parted but looks shallow, discharge that is increasing rather than drying, pus or a bad smell, and pain far worse than the operation would explain are handled the same day: telephone the surgical team, and if you cannot reach them, attend. Mild redness along the line, a little clear or blood-tinged fluid, itching and small crusts over intact skin are ordinary healing and can be raised at the next review. If you are unsure which you are looking at, describe the finding and let the team decide.

What to have ready when you call

Which operation you had, the date it was performed, and the hospital that performed it. What the wound looks like now, with the hour it changed and the hour it began. Whether the gap or the discharge is increasing. Your temperature if you have taken it, with the time beside it. The medicines you are taking, including anything for pain. And the one thing you are most worried about, said first rather than last.

What the assessment covers

The examination records the operation and its date, looks at the wound rather than a photograph of it, establishes how deep the separation goes and what is visible inside the gap, reads the colour and bleeding of the edges, and looks for fluid collecting under the scar. Infection is excluded before any decision about closing the wound. You should leave with a clear answer: what is being done to the wound, how the dressing is managed at home, what is being watched for, when it will be reviewed, and who to contact in between.

Fees, records and privacy

This site does not quote prices, because the plan depends on the findings and is discussed directly with you. What was seen and what was done is documented so that the record follows you, and photographs of the wound taken at each visit are what allow a change to be judged rather than remembered. Clinical photographs are not published or used for teaching without a separate consent you are free to refuse.