Optimizing the Timing for Facial Surgical Dressing Removal

A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Early to Standard Wound Dressing Removal After Facial Skin Surgery

What is this study about? You are being invited to participate in a clinical research study because you are scheduled to undergo a facial skin surgery for your health condition. Your surgeon will perform your operation independently, and your standard surgical procedure and follow-up visits will not be changed in any way by this study.

The purpose of this research is to understand which postoperative care method is more beneficial for facial wound healing and for reducing scar formation. We aim to compare two common approaches for caring for the wound after surgery. Your participation will help doctors choose better care plans for future patients.

What will happen in this study?

If you agree to participate, you will be randomly assigned (like drawing lots) to one of two groups:

Group A (Early Exposure Group): About 6 hours after your surgery, the doctor will remove the sterile gauze covering your wound. After this, you will need to keep the wound area clean and dry, and you will not use a gauze dressing to cover it.

Group B (Continuous Coverage Group): After surgery, your wound will continue to be covered with sterile gauze. The doctor or nurse will change the dressing for you regularly until the sutures are removed around 7 days after surgery, or until it is decided to stop based on how the wound is healing.

What will I need to do differently?

Apart from the assigned wound care method described above, participating in this study involves only the following additions to your regular care:

Before Surgery: You will be asked to fill out a simple questionnaire about your skin and undergo a quick, non-invasive skin measurement.

During Follow-up Visits: You will be asked to fill out questionnaires and allow the study doctor to take photographs of your surgical area. These photos will be used only for analysis and record-keeping in this study.

Your total time commitment for these extra activities is minimal. Participation is entirely voluntary, and your decision will not affect the quality of your medical care.

Key Information:

Your surgeon decides your operation. This study only involves postoperative wound care.

Random Assignment: You cannot choose your group; it is decided randomly by a computer.

Privacy: Your personal information and study data (including photos) will be kept strictly confidential and used only for this research.

Potential Benefit: You may not benefit directly, but your participation will contribute to medical knowledge.

Potential Risks: The risks are considered minimal and are similar to those of standard wound care. The study doctor will monitor your healing closely.

You will receive a detailed informed consent form with more information. Please discuss any questions you have with the research team before deciding.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Nevus; Scar; Lipoma; Seborrheic Keratosis (SK); Cyst
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: sterile gauze dressing

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 144
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• China
  • Hubei
    • Wuhan, Hubei, China, 430022
      • Not Appicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged between 18 and 60 years
• Clinically and postoperatively pathologically diagnosed with a benign facial lesion (e.g., melanocytic nevus, sebaceous cyst, seborrheic keratosis, etc.) and having undergone standard surgical treatment
• Voluntarily agree to participate in this study and sign a written informed consent form
• Commit to complying with all study procedures and cooperate to complete all follow-up visits and data collection

Exclusion Criteria:

• Clinically or postoperatively pathologically diagnosed with a malignant facial tumor
• Wounds requiring staged excision or planned for secondary intention healing
• Surgical site located on or immediately adjacent to a mucosal surface
• Known history of allergy to surgical gauze dressings or related materials
• Presence of systemic diseases that significantly impair wound healing (e.g., poorly controlled diabetes, immunodeficiency disorders, active infection, etc.)
• Concurrent use of medications known to affect wound healing or scar formation (e.g., long-term use of glucocorticoids, immunosuppressants, etc.)
• Pregnant or lactating women
• Refusal to sign the informed consent form, or are anticipated to have difficulty complying with study follow-up and data collection
• Concurrent participation in another interventional clinical trial
• Any other factors deemed by the investigator as likely to interfere with the study results or increase the participant's risk

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Early Exposure; Six hours after surgery, the sterile gauze dressing covering the surgical area will be removed. From then on, the wound will be disinfected once daily using a 0.5% povidone-iodine solution. The wound should be kept clean and dry, with no further dressing coverage or application of other topical medications, until the sutures are removed on the seventh postoperative day.	Procedure: sterile gauze dressing; Six hours after surgery, the sterile gauze dressing covering the surgical area will be removed. From then on, the wound will be disinfected once daily using a 0.5% povidone-iodine solution. The wound should be kept clean and dry, with no further dressing coverage or application of other topical medications, until the sutures are removed on the seventh postoperative day.
No Intervention: Continuous Coverage; On the second postoperative day, remove the initial dressing, disinfect the wound with 0.5% povidone-iodine solution (without using other topical medications), and then cover it with a sterile gauze dressing. Thereafter, repeat the dressing change every 48 hours-meaning the wound should remain continuously covered-until the sutures are removed on the seventh postoperative day.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Incidence of Postoperative Edema	Assessed by direct clinical examination. Unit: % of participants with the presence of edema.	7-day follow-up
Incidence of Postoperative Wound Suppuration	Assessed by direct clinical examination. Unit: % of participants with the presence of wound suppuration.	7-day follow-up
Incidence of Postoperative Peri-wound Erythema	Assessed by direct clinical examination. Unit: % of participants with the presence of peri-wound erythema.	7-day follow-up
Incidence of Postoperative Wound Tenderness	Assessed by direct clinical examination. Unit: % of participants with the presence of wound tenderness.	7-day follow-up
Incidence of Postoperative Hemorrhage	Assessed by direct clinical examination. Unit: % of participants with the presence of postoperative hemorrhage.	7-day follow-up
Incidence of Postoperative Ecchymosis	Assessed by direct clinical examination. Unit: % of participants with the presence of wound ecchymosis.	7-day follow-up

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale version 2.0 (POSAS 2.0)	This scale comprises two separate subscales: the Observer Scar Assessment Scale (completed by the clinician) and the Patient Scar Assessment Scale (completed by the participant). The Observer Scale evaluates six items (vascularity, pigmentation, thickness, relief, pliability, and surface area) on a scale from 1 ("like normal skin") to 10 ("the worst scar imaginable"), with a total score ranging from 6 (best) to 60 (worst). The Patient Scale evaluates six items (pain, itching, color, stiffness, thickness, and irregularity) on a scale from 1 ("no, not at all") to 10 ("yes, very much"), with a total score also ranging from 6 (best) to 60 (worst). For both subscales, a higher score indicates a worse scar quality.	3-month follow-up
modified Stony Brook Scar Evaluation Scale (mSBSES)	Evaluations were independently performed by two clinicians who were blinded to group allocation. The scale comprises four items: scar width, height, color, and suture marks. Each item is scored from 0 to 2 points, where a score of 2 represents the closest resemblance to normal skin, and 0 represents the worst appearance. The total score ranges from 0 to 8, with a higher score indicating a more ideal scar appearance.	3-month follow-up
Skindex-16	On the seventh postoperative day, the Skindex-16 dermatology-specific quality of life questionnaire will be used to assess the patient's disease-specific quality of life over the past week. This scale consists of a total of 16 items and provides a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of dermatological conditions on the patient's recent life from three dimensions: emotions, functioning, and symptoms. It is particularly suitable for assessing the quality of life in patients with mild skin lesions.	7-day follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 15, 2025
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 15, 2026
• Study Completion (Actual): January 15, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 24, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 24, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): March 2, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 3, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 2, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Neoplasms; Pathological Conditions, Anatomical; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Skin Diseases; Neoplasms, Connective and Soft Tissue; Nevi and Melanomas; Neoplasms, Adipose Tissue; Keratosis; Fibrosis; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases; Cicatrix; Cysts; Nevus; Lipoma; Keratosis, Seborrheic
• Other Study ID Numbers: WuhanUH-2025PFKDressing

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No