Wetting a wound doesn’t infect it

The claim
Keep stitches dry and covered up after surgery
The facts
The instructions for caring for fresh stitches are fairly universal: keep the sutures clean and dry and avoid getting them wet for at least 48 hours.

Doing so,the thinking goes,sharply reduces the rate of infection and improves healing. But when temperatures and humidity are high,following doctor’s orders can be a nuisance.
Studies have indicated that the 48-hour rule makes little difference. Washing a sutured wound with soap and water — or simply getting it wet,period — in the first 12 hours did not pose a problem. But most of the studies have been small and unpersuasive. So in 2006,Australian researchers carried out a large,randomised study involving more than 800 patients undergoing minor surgery at several clinical centers. Some were assigned to keep their stitched wounds dry and covered for at least 48 hours (the control group),and others were told to keep the dressing on to absorb immediate bleeding,then remove it and bathe as normal in the first 12 hours. None of the patients were on antibiotics.

Ultimately,the study,published in the British medical journal BMJ,found no major difference in outcome. The infection rates were 8.9 per cent in the control group and 8.4 per cent in the “wet” group,indicating “that patients can uncover and occasionally wet stitches in the first 48 hours after minor skin excisions without increasing the incidence of wound infection.”
The bottom line
Research suggests that after minor surgery,a sutured wound is not more likely to become infected if it gets wet.
—NYT