In June I had an operation on my stomach. Rather than sew it shut, they have left it open to heal “from the bottom up.”
Not only is this gonna leave a big-ass ugly scar, it is also taking a damn long time to heal. (They tell me it is going wonderfully.)
One of the guys that works for me had the same thing when they operated on his back.
Is this a new medicinal trend? Why is this considered to be superior?
I have nothing useful to say.
But. Ew. o.O
I’ve never had this done to me but my ex husband had an open wound after surgery to remove part of his colon after developing pertonitis. The reason for leaving it open was to draw out the infection.
Every day about four times a day I had to pack strips of saline soaked gauze into the wound then remove a few hours later and replace with fresh gauze.
In all actuallity the wound healed very quickly and the scar was not that much larger than it would have been had they closed the wound.
I don’t know how old you are but scars do tend to fade over time and the younger you are when you have the surgery, the better.
You can talk to your doc about applications to lighten the scar once it’s all sealed up.
That’s all I can think of off the top of my head about the open wound thing but if I think of anything else I’ll be back.
Hope you heal up fast!
I had to have a cyst opened in the ER and the doctors wanted it to heal “open” so it wouldn’t refill. I had to do the packing with the gauze (or rather have it done, as the cyst was on my back) also. It’s to prevent a pocket of infection from developing. Hope you heal up well, and quickly!
Well, sometimes this is done because the area in question doesn’t have enough tissue available to sew shut, and sometimes it’s done because the area doesn’t have good circulation and may not heal properly if it’s sewn shut. My husband got a very deep, large cut on his upper shin and it had to be left open to heal from the bottom up because shins don’t have a big blood supply. I seem to recall it took a couple months altogether. The incision on my dog’s foot was left open after surgery due to lack of available tissue and it took about 2 months as well.
This approach is generally known as “healing by secondary intent”. If you google that phrase, you can find a lot of data on it.
Basically, a number of other posters have nailed it. If tissue is missing, or poor in circulation/oxygen, or prone to infection, it is often advantageous to not sew it shut. Failed closures are rife for further complications.
Broomstick? Paging Broomstick …
This one is on my belly and believe me, there is plenty of tissue available. 
It has been open since June and they claim it should be completely shut by end of Oct. I remain doubtful myself, because I’m not seeing sign of it closing. But they are the experts.
Sorry it took so long for me to get here - I’ve been busy lately. Hope the reply is of some use.
I presume I was called in as someone who experienced a gouging incision for removal of infection and had the scar heal unstitched from the “bottom up”?
Most folks have the various reasons already. Granted, it’s a nasty process, but sewing up the incision only to have it fester under the surface could be even worse. Much worse. Horribly worse.
As it happened, mine was done for an infection on my face. The incision was 1-1/2 inches long, about a half inch wide, and 3/8 of an inch deep. It was open for a couple months, required thrice daily dressing changes, I had to undergo debridement at one point during the healing process, and in general it was a horrible, icky, oogy experience during which I was convinced I would be left with a hideous scar like the grand canyon across my cheek and jaw.
As it happened, it healed to a thin scar that most people never notice at all unless I point it out to them. Granted that is better than the usual result, but I’m told at least part of that result was due to being absolutely scrupulous about the wound care. Credit for which goes to my husband, not me.
The most important thing is that the wound heal as well and as much as possible. After that is done, you can get “scar revision” done if you feel a need for it. But I hope you have the same sort of success I did. I know it feels like it’s taking forever, but do keep up with your wound care!
I was just at the Doc’s this past Tuesday. He told me it would heal in 4-6 weeks. This is code for: We don’t have a freaking clue. (He told me 4 weeks ago it would heal in 4-6 weeks.)
I’m glad yours healed to a thin scar. Mine will be about 4 inches wide and 10 inches long. Mind you, I am scrupulous about the wound care. Heck, I’m scrupulous about all the directions I get. I’ve been sick for going on two years and I’m tired of it, so I do what I’m told.
But the wound will not close tightly. The docs and the would specialist are thrilled, they tell me it is all going well, except for the flesh is granulated. They gave me some stuff that will help it heal more smoothly. LOL. Because a 4 by 10 smooth will be attractive, but if it were *granulated *people will go ick. 
Ah heck, it is what it is, I guess if I get a chance to have sex again I can always do it in the dark. Once it heals it will be the equivelant of having a hernia. So next year I get the pleasure of yet *another *operation where they repair that. Fun stuff, fun stuff.
Having seen smooth scars and non-smooth scars I’m inclined to agree with your docs - smooth does look better.
Sorry you’re going to get such scar, hon ::
:: Get better, OK?
My husband had a failed closure. So not only did he get to have an operation for a cyst, he got to have the wound get infected and re-opened. And I got to clean and dress his open wound several times a day. It put me off hamburger for quite a while. This was almost 20 years ago, and his scar isn’t really visible now.
I had a couple of failed closures myself after my hysterectomy, so my husband got the privilege of cleaning and packing some small tubes running into my abdomen. I didn’t heal for the longest time, and then, all of a sudden, my body decided to heal up. So you will heal too, or make medical history.
One of the things that the folks at the wound care clinic stressed was proper nutrition. I was told to make sure to eat properly, and get enough of vitamins A, C, and E. I took a multi-vitamin daily. You might want to ask your doctor about vitamins, and make sure that you eat properly.
There are ways of treating a healing wound with special ointments and dressings such that the scarring is minimal. Google some.
In the meantime, look up anal fistula and count your blessings. They’re right buggers to heal. Apparently.
The big things that they stressed with me were high protien, high calory foods. I have overdone it and am gaining weight, so they told me to back off the peanut butter and peanut butter candy.
Wouldn’t buggery make them slower to heal?
Been there done that. During the healing it was very painful every time I had to go #2. :eek: I had to clean and then soak my ass every time I had to go for the first week or two and then it was just large amounts of Tucks wipes until it healed.
I’ll just add that a little over a year ago, my uncle had an (emergency) operation to remove his colon as the result of internal bleeding due to diverticulitis. He developed a complication, specifically an abscess where they reattached his small intestine to his rectum. So, he (82 years old) underwent emergency surgery for the second time in ten days. His recovery was similar in that he was just “left open,” and the doctors told the family (he was too out of it to be aware of what was going on) that he was going to have to heal from the inside out.
I wouldn’t worry about that aspect - scars make an interesting topic of conversation for dates, and can be rather sexy. My husband is scarred from repeated injections in the same places as a child, and has huge craters in his outer thights and uppper arms. REALLY unattractive if you think of it like that, but it brings out the sympathy vote with me! (And in an odd way they are rather nice to stroke - I would be shocked if they weren’t there now!) He also has a big lumpy burn on his leg from when he fell off his bike and it landed on top of him. That has a certain gross charm, too.
And this is a bit different, since my scars are post marriage, but my abdomen is a road map now after three surgeries, one of which didn’t heal properly and left me with a crater just under my belly button. I was embarassed when we first started making love again after that one, and it was all purple, red and shiny. But my husband said they are my badges of honor, and they don’t alter his view of how sexy I am at all.
So, I am not sure that you’ll be able to use your scar as an excuse for not getting any…(By the time you’ve lost enough clothes for her to see your belly, you should have charmed her enough with your witty personality and your smouldering moves, no???)
Get better soon.
I remember being told by our vet (70+ years of experience) that wounds on horses that werenot stitched healed with a less visible scar tan those that were stitched up. This may relate to regrowing of hair over such wounds, which sometimes grows back in a different color (usually white or gray) than the rest of the horse’s coat. That makes them very obvious.
I don’t know if this applies to humans, but I’d think that it would. A stitched scar (I have one) has the little cross-hatch lines where the stitches were, with visible points where the needle went in with the stitching. An unstitched would would heal as just a plain line, which would be less noticable on the body, wouldn’t it? [And you could look forward to it blending right in with all the other wrinkles as you age. :)]