Trial of Wound drain In Surgical site infection in kidney Transplant
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Multicentre, Open-label Randomised Trial of Superficial Wound Drain on Surgical Site Infection in high Body Mass Index (BMI) Kidney Transplants Recipients.
IRAS ID
239150
Contact name
James Hunter
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford / Clinical Trials and Research Governance
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
In order to perform a kidney transplant a surgical incision is required. This is a ‘cut’ through the skin and muscle of the abdominal wall to reach the blood vessels needed for the transplant. The incision is in the lower part of the abdomen and is about 20cm (8 inches) long. The incision usually needs to be longer in larger patients which makes them more susceptible to infection. Wound infections are common after a kidney transplant and as many as 4 in 10 patients will need treatment for a wound infection. Patients with larger body size need longer incisions and are more susceptible to wound infection. In recent years the rates of diabetes and the body mass index (BMI) of patients undergoing transplants has increased. Both of these factors increase the chance of having a wound infection. Wound infections are unpleasant for patients as they can be painful, can require hospital admission for treatment and sometimes require further surgery. Measures to reduce wound infections are carried out routinely. Such measures include sterilising the skin before making an incision and giving antibiotics. However we are always striving to find new ways to reduce infections. One technique that MAY reduce the risk of wound infection is placing a plastic tube, also called ‘a drain’ before closing the wound. This drain sits underneath the skin but above the muscle layer that protects the kidney. The drain carries any fluid that is produced by the wound into a container attached to the plastic tube. Studies in patients undergoing bowel operations with a drain had fewer wound infections than those without a drain.
We are planning to randomly assign patients to either having a wound drain or NOT and comparing the number of wound infections in each group.REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/WM/0270
Date of REC Opinion
3 Oct 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion