The impact of varying post-operative dressing size on recovery from laparoscopic cholecystectomy

This study aimed to explore the impact of the size of a post-operative dressing and the subsequent visibility of the wound on recovery from laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). A randomised controlled trial was conducted. Fourty-one patients (8 men and 33 women, mean age = 44 years) scheduled for LC were included. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either small gauze dressings (n = 19) or large gauze dressings (n = 22) which were directly applied on post-operative incisions. Patients' mood, psychological well-being, illness cognitions, and pain and recovery were assessed at three time points: baseline, immediately after the procedure and then two weeks later. The findings suggest that the management of post-surgical incisions influences patients' interpretation of their illness which in turn has an impact upon the process of recovery from LC. This implies that visual information available to patients after the procedure through the cognitive and emotional mechanisms involved in their processing can alter the process of convalescence from LC.