Overview

You can get a surgical wound infection after surgery, but this is not common.

It's important to be aware of the signs of a wound infection. If you have any symptoms, contact the hospital or a GP straight away.

Surgical wound infections happen when germs enter the cut that the surgeon makes through the skin to do an operation. 

A surgical wound infection can happen at any time from 2 to 3 days after surgery until the wound has healed. This is usually 2 to 3 weeks after the operation. Sometimes, you can get an infection several months after an operation. 

Most surgical wound infections are skin infections. They can sometimes spread to deeper tissues. 

Some types of surgery have more risk of infection than others. This is because of the risks from different types of germs. Infections are more likely to happen after surgery on parts of the body that have lots of germs, such as the gut.

Signs of a wound infection

You may have an infection if you notice any of these symptoms.

• The skin around your wound is red or sore, or feels hot and swollen.
• Your wound has liquid (often green or yellow pus) coming out of it.
• Your wound opens.
• You feel generally unwell or have a temperature (fever).

If you have a problem with your wound or any of these symptoms, contact your hospital doctor or a GP straight away. It is important to treat any infection as soon as possible to stop it getting worse.

Preventing a surgical wound infection

Your doctor or nurse tries to lower the risk of you getting a surgical wound infection. They might:

• ask you to have a shower with soap and water before you come into hospital
• ask you to clean yourself with an antibacterial solution or washcloths before you go for your operation
• check if you have any germs that are resistant to a lot of antibiotics, such as MRSA (a type of bacteria) and carbapenem-resistant organisms (bacteria that live in the bowel)
• give you antibiotics just before the operation

Looking after your wound

When you're in hospital, the nurse who changes your dressing checks your wound for any signs of infection.

If the nurse or doctor thinks that you have a surgical wound infection, they might take a sample from the surface of your wound with a swab. They send this sample to the laboratory for tests. You might also be treated with antibiotics.

If you're concerned about your wound, tell the nurse who looks after you. 

Do not remove your dressing or touch your wound or wound drain. You could accidentally spread germs from your fingers to the wound.

Keeping your hands clean

All hospital staff are taught to keep their hands clean to stop the spread of infection. 

If you think that a member of staff may have forgotten to wash their hands before touching your dressing, drain or wound, please remind them.

It is a good idea to learn the proper way to wash your hands.

After you leave hospital

After you leave hospital, please contact your doctor or a GP straight away if you have a problem with your wound. Sometimes, we ask you to contact the hospital instead.

It is important to treat any infection as soon as possible to stop it getting worse.

We might also monitor your wound remotely, by asking you to give us regular updates.

Films that might help you

We made a film about looking after your surgical wound at home

It's also available as an audio described version: Looking after your surgical wound at home

Telling the hospital about an infection

After you leave hospital, we might contact you each week, asking you to send photos of your wound and updates about how it's healing. These will be by a secure SMS text or email, and will clearly state that it's from Guy's and St Thomas' hospitals. This is a free service for patients.

You can also send us updates if you notice any changes to the wound that you’d like us to know about. Our nursing team will reply to all your submissions, and we will contact you if we need more information.

This service is designed to help you manage your wound at home and reduce the risk of wound infection. We also use this information to get accurate information about the number of patients who have wound infections after surgery.

The central digital wound hub service is currently only offered to patients who have had specific surgeries at our hospitals. The information helps us to improve the care we give.

The hospital might give some of the information to the UK Health Security Agency and Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (previously Public Health England). We do not share any information that can be used to identify you, such as your name, address or postcode.