Feasibility and safety of early removal of incisional dressings following thoracic surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility and safety of early dressing removal of clean wounds following thoracotomy. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 230 patients (127 males, mean age 55.6 ± 16.7 years) were randomly divided into study and control groups. In the study group the cotton gauze dressing was removed 48 h after the surgery, whereas in the control group the dressing was kept on for 7-8 days until the removal of skin sutures. The infection and healing of the wounds were examined, and patients were followed up for 30 days. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference in age, sex, smoking rates, concurrent illnesses and operational characteristics between the study and control groups (p > 0.05). The wound infection rate in the study and control groups was 6 (5.2%) and 7 patients (6.1%), respectively (p = 0.775). Two patients (1.7%) from the study group and 1 (0.9%, p = 0.561) from the control group had partial wound approximation by day 7. Surrounding skin integrity was normal in 106 (92.2%) of the study group and 107 (93.0%) of the control group patients by postoperative day 7 (p = 0.801). CONCLUSION: Removal of wound dressing 48 h after thoracic surgery was not associated with an increased risk of surgical site infection. Hence the early removal of wound dressing did not appear to have an adverse impact on wound healing.

Identification of potential therapeutic targets for lung cancer by bioinformatics analysis.

The aim of the present study was to identify potential therapeutic targets for lung cancer and explore underlying molecular mechanisms of its development and progression. The gene expression profile datasets no. GSE3268 and GSE19804, which included five and 60 pairs of tumor and normal lung tissue specimens, respectively, were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between lung cancer and normal tissues were identified, and gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis of the DEGs was performed. Furthermore, protein­protein interaction (PPI) networks and a transcription factor (TF) regulatory network were constructed and key target genes were screened. A total of 466 DEGs were identified, and the PPI network indicated that IL­6 and MMP9 had key roles in lung cancer. A PPI module containing 34 nodes and 547 edges was obtained, including PTTG1. The TF regulatory network indicated that TFs of FOSB and LMO2 had a key role. Furthermore, MMP9 was indicated to be the target of FOSB, while PTTG1 was the target of LMO2. In conclusion, the bioinformatics analysis of the present study indicated that IL­6, MMP9 and PTTG1 may have key roles in the progression and development of lung cancer and may potentially be used as biomarkers or specific therapeutic targets for lung cancer.