C section wound popped open and wasn't treated properly

[Fidgitigdif123]

Hi everyone,
Sorry for the long essay, has anyone else experienced anything like this with a c section? I don't know whether to put in a complaint or not :-( I just need to have a good old rant about my experience:

I had an emergency C section 5 weeks ago and about 5 days after, I sneezed quite hard and popped open the incision. A big blob of fat from underneath poked through.
We went up to maternity day care to get it sorted and the doctor just poked the fat back in and whacked a dressing on top, without closing the hole up.
This obviously didn't hold the fat in or the hole closed, so guess what happened? It popped straight back out as soon as we got home.
Went back up, this time it was a different doctor who put some steri strips on, but didn't do a very good job as it didn't hold the hole closed and the same thing happened again, only this time it started gushing out (And I'm mean gushing out) clear fluid. Ended up having to put thick sanitary towels over the top to absorb the fluid, and was constantly having to change these every hour, as they were soaked.
Went back up a third time and low and behold, the fat was still poking out. Saw another doctor and explained what had been happening, yet it was still left open instead of being closed. Frustrating thing is, because I had been lying down the flow of fluid had stopped and they seemed satisfied that it wouldn't start up again, so they sent me home with it undressed. It started leaking everywhere as soon as i started walking again, and it soaked my underwear and leggings in minutes, yet they weren't interested :-(
I ended up spending the next few days using sanitary towels to stem the flow of fluid. Went to see the community midwife, who was concerned about the fact I was using sanitary pads to absorb everything, and she got me an emergency appointment with a wound nurse who also wasn't impressed. By this time, it had kind of started healing and it was too late for any stitches to go in.
My gp ended up arranging to have a district nurse come round every day for 2 weeks to redress everything as it wouldn't close up properly and was still soaking through everything.
I'm so frustrated that the hospital left it this way. It's almost as if they're not interested as soon as the baby is out. I was so scared and upset of the possibility of getting an infection, that I was given antibiotics as a precaution from my gp.
I know the NHS is under a lot of strain, so I feel bad about putting a complaint in, yet I kind of don't want this happening to someone else.
My scar has quite a deep painful dent in it now, and I'm still having to have it redrsssed by the nurse, as it still isn't fully healed :-(

I'm so sorry OP that definitely sounds like mismanagement and a disregard for your concerns esp since you've been back multiple times. Oozing that much fluid does not sound normal at all - maybe an infection or an abscess? Hopefully the antibiotics prescribed by the GP has helped.

Sorry I can't share a similar experience as I haven't had a c section (I am planning one though!) but I have had mastitis with an abscess before and that's the only time I've seen that much fluid enough to soak clothes etc. I hope they have given you sterile dressings? Sanitary pads aren't sterile and you could introduce an infection to the wound if it is open.

Wow. Definitely not unreasonable to complain!

Poor you. I hope you heal up soon.

It's horrific that you were treated this way. Don't feel bad about complaining - it's surely spent more of the NHS' time and resources patching you up and it needs addressing so this happens to no one else.

I know exactly what you mean when you say they don't care once the baby is out. It's disgusting really. Hope you feel better soon x

They can’t close it.... once it’s popped open it needs to be allowed to heal from the inside out- as infection otherwise gets trapped. I spent 3 months with an open wound from above my belly button to my pubic bone- down to my abdominal muscles- it burst 5 days after Emergency surgery and they just had to pack it every day for 3 months.

You can't restitch a dehisced wound, it has to be left to heal by itself.
That said, you ought to have been helped to look after the wound by the nursing team.

Wound dehiscence is a known complication of a c-section (or any surgery) and the treatment of that sounds about right in that your wound was dressed. More sutures or even steri strips aren't suitable for a dehisced wound, sometimes you can have further surgery or a more complicated dressing but that's not the first line of treatment.

Sounds like communication from the hospital could have been better though. They should have arranged for someone (midwives/practice nurse/district nurse/wound clinic) to carry out regular dressing changes and make sure the wound was healing without you having to go back and forth without a plan.

No a c-section (i’m a man!, this thread popped up in the recent area) but I had this when I had my appendix removed, I was told by the tissue viability team that a ‘popped’ wound can’t be restitched due to the high risk of infection. Mine took around eight weeks to fully heal on the outside, it was always very oozy (colourless liquid) and sometimes I had to pack it in the evening to stop it soaking the bed over night. It’s about 10x8 cm and hasn’t left too bad a scar considering I’m asian, it’s just a bit shiny and there isn’t any hair on it at all.

This is normal practice. The problem is that they didn’t explain this to you and they should have.

How distressing for you, sorry this happened. I had stiches that wouldn't dissolve after my second emcs, they stuck out from the outside of the wound stopping it healing. According to the midwife my wound was "too dry". I'm not sure what I was meant to do about that? In the end I sterilised some tweezers and nail scissors, pulled the ends really hard, cut the threads as close to the skin as possible and they finally disappeared under my skin!

Thanks everyone :-) makes sense about not being able to re stitch for infection reasons. I wish they'd explained that which would have saved a load of anxiety and upset :-(

Mine was nowhere near as bad as yours but I had 3 gaping stitches post c section and nothing was really done about it. My midwife did explain they couldn't do much about it but to keep an eye out for infection. I ended up being hospitalised a few days post birth for a kidney infection so luckily the midwifes were able to keep an eye out for me and advise me further. This c section took waaaay longer to heal as opposed to my first! It's frustrating as hell!

My first c section wound opened up.
I ended up with the district nurse for a few weeks too to change dressings on it. It was infected too so they gave me antibiotics. Took a long time to heal.
Second one was totally different experience and a dream by comparison.

@Fidgitigdif123 I really hope you see this. I literally could have written this myself. I had a section 31/12/20 and having a horrible time coping with the now very ugly scar. I'd love to chat to someone who actually knows what I'm trying to describe as everyone else doesn't and I can't bring myself to show them. If you see this please reach out xxx

Hiya @SammyC8194, I've replied to your message, but not sure if it's sent or not! Xxx