Recognizing and Reporting Surgical Wound Complications After Discharge From Gastrointestinal Surgery in Egypt (WOUND-REPORT)

November 3, 2026 updated by: Mohamed Fakhry Ahmed Salem, Alexandria University

Barriers and Enablers to Recognizing and Reporting Surgical Wound Complications After Hospital Discharge Following Gastrointestinal Surgery: A Multisite Qualitative Study of Patients, Caregivers, and Nurses to Inform Nurse-Led Remote Surveillance

Many wound problems after surgery on the digestive system, including wound infection, are first noticed after the patient has already gone home. Delays in noticing a problem and contacting the hospital can delay treatment. Existing studies come mostly from high-income countries and usually look at only one group of people. No study from Egypt or the Arabic-speaking region was found in the sources reviewed.

This qualitative study will explore what helps and what gets in the way when patients, family caregivers, and nurses recognize, report, and respond to surgical wound problems after discharge from gastrointestinal surgery. Individual semi-structured interviews will be held in Egyptian Arabic, in person or by telephone, at three hospitals in Egypt. The planned participants are 20 patients discharged 2 to 6 weeks earlier, 12 family caregivers, 15 nurses, and up to 4 key informants, for a planned total of 51. Participants will be chosen purposefully to include a wide range of experiences, and recruitment in each group will stop once further interviews bring no new themes.

Interviews will be analysed with reflexive thematic analysis, guided by the Common-Sense Model of Self-Regulation. The main result is a description of the barriers and enablers. Further results are a model of the pathway from noticing a wound change, to reporting it, to the nursing response, and a set of requirements for a nurse-led remote follow-up service.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

51

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Egypt
    • Alexandria Governorate
      • Alexandria, Alexandria Governorate, Egypt, 2500
        • Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Adult patients discharged 2 to 6 weeks earlier after gastrointestinal surgery, their family caregivers, registered nurses, and key informants responsible for discharge or follow-up policy, at three hospitals in Egypt.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients: age 18 years or older
  • Patients: discharged 2 to 6 weeks before the interview after gastrointestinal surgery (colon, rectum, stomach, small bowel, liver and biliary tract, pancreas, gallbladder) with an abdominal wound (open or laparoscopic)
  • Patients: Arabic-speaking
  • Patients: able to give informed consent
  • Family caregivers: age 18 years or older
  • Family caregivers: the family member most involved in the patient's wound care or communication with the hospital after discharge
  • Family caregivers: Arabic-speaking
  • Nurses: registered nurses working in gastrointestinal or general surgical wards, discharge planning, or infection prevention at a study site
  • Nurses: at least 1 year of surgical or infection-prevention experience
  • Key informants: nursing managers, infection-control leads, or surgeons with responsibility for discharge or follow-up policy

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients: cognitive impairment or inability to take part in an interview
  • Patients: still hospitalized or readmitted at the time of interview
  • Patients: day-case procedures without an abdominal wound requiring home care
  • Family caregivers: paid or professional caregivers
  • Nurses: on leave for the whole data collection period
  • Nurses: in direct line management of the interviewer

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: OTHER
  • Time Perspectives: CROSS_SECTIONAL

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Patients

Adults (18 years or older) discharged 2 to 6 weeks before interview after gastrointestinal surgery with an abdominal wound; planned n = 20. Interviewed once.
Family Caregivers

Adult family member most involved in the patient's wound care or communication with the hospital after discharge; planned n = 12. Interviewed once.
Nurses

Registered nurses in gastrointestinal or general surgical wards, discharge planning, or infection prevention, with at least 1 year of experience; planned n = 15. Interviewed once.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Barriers and Enablers to Recognizing, Reporting, and Responding to Post-Discharge Surgical Wound Complications
Time Frame: Interviews from 10 November 2026 to 24 February 2027 (14 weeks), extendable by up to 4 weeks if the stopping rule is not met

Individual, relational, and service-level barriers and enablers described by patients, caregivers, nurses, and key informants in semi-structured interviews and identified through reflexive thematic analysis. This is a qualitative outcome with no numeric scale; results are reported as themes.
Interviews from 10 November 2026 to 24 February 2027 (14 weeks), extendable by up to 4 weeks if the stopping rule is not met

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pathway Model From Noticing to Nursing Response
Time Frame: Through analysis, up to 31 March 2027

Model of the stages of noticing a wound change, judging concern, reporting, nurse triage, and follow-up, built from the themes and mapped to the Common-Sense Model of Self-Regulation.
Through analysis, up to 31 March 2027

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Alexandria University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Mohamed Fakhry Ahmed Salem, PHD, Alexandria University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

November 10, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

February 24, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

February 24, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 3, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 3, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

November 9, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 9, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 3, 2026

Last Verified

November 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • GI-WOUND-QUAL-2026-01

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Subscribe