ACCELERATION OF WOUND HEALING BY TOPICAL APPLICATION OF HONEY TO WOMEN WITH OBSTETRIC AND GYNECOLOGICAL OPERATIONS

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the acceleration of wound healing by topical application of honey on women with obstetric and gynecological operations. Design: A prospective experimental design was used for the purpose of the study. Setting: This study was conducted in the Obstetric and Gynecological Departments of Benha University Hospital. Subjects and Methods: 200 postoperative women with obstetric and gynecological operations with wound infection, one hundred as a control group and the other as an experimental group were recruited. Their age ranged between 20-60 years old. Three tools were used for data collection: 1) ·- Interviewing questionnaire designed to collect sociodemographic data. 2) Wound swabs taking before and after application of honey to evaluate different types of organisms. They were taken by the researcher and sent to the lab at the Bacteriology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Banha University. 3) Reeda Scale was used to assess wound healing after honey application. Results: The highest percentage type of organism of the study and control groups was Staph aureus (45% & 46%), Pseudomonas (17% & 21%), proteus (14% &11%) respectively. Mean duration score of wound healing was the highest (12.4 ± 19.8) in young age women less than 20 years among both the study and control groups. Mean duration of wound healing was lower in the study'group (13.0 + 5.5) than the control group (13.1 + 5.5). Mean duration score of wound healing was higher (19.7 + 4.5 & 12.8 + 3.0), in cases with vicryle suture closure among the control and study groups respectively with statistically significant differences between them (p < 0.05). Conclusion and Recommendations: Honey has no side effect and is not cost effective. Local bee honey application for care of post-operative infected wounds was effective. This method has reduced the degree of wound pain, edema, exudation, inflammation, scar, resuture and hospital stay. Dead tissue separates easily minimizing the need for anesthesia. Bee honey dressing is easily changed without harm, available and not toxic. So, honey is used safely for wound dressings. Further researches should be done on larger samples for generalization of results. Infection control programs should be held as well as committees and conferences about approaches and standardization of wound care.