Stitches- How to Tell if Infected (warning pic)

my 8 year old nephew is staying with me. He had a second surgery to remove rods from a bad broken arm about 15-16 days ago. I’m surprised the stitches hadn’t been removed sooner. Isn’t that long for a small incision?


Also, they seem to be very Red today. I don’t remember them being red yesterday. Concern? No fever. 


His doctor is on Long Island so I’d rather not go all the way there unless necessary. I could either bring him there, a local urgent care or just watch it. 



Pic below. I just put bacitracin on it so it looks a little wet from that. It was completely dry before I did that.


TIA


If I read that right you are saying those stitches are two weeks old. If that is the case then I would take him in to see a doctor tomorrow to have it checked out. That looks a little too red for two weeks out. 


Does it feel warmer than the surrounding skin? 


yes, 16 days old and yes, it feels a little warmer. Urgent care or do I need to go to his doctor?


PM Pediatrics on Route 10 in Livingston (next to Toys R Us) is open until midnight. 



mrincredible said:

PM Pediatrics on Route 10 in Livingston (next to Toys R Us) is open until midnight. 

There's one on 22 in Springfield too. If I remember that's closer to you.


I’d say a doc in the box type place tomorrow morning, or urgent care if they’re not open because of the holiday. I’m assuming his regular doc is in NY so I wouldn’t bother going that far, any doctor should be able to address this. 


Good call, I didn’t know they were open this late on Sundays. If you can go to a non-ER doc tonight then that would also work. 

mrincredible said:



mrincredible said:

PM Pediatrics on Route 10 in Livingston (next to Toys R Us) is open until midnight. 

There's one on 22 in Springfield too. If I remember that's closer to you.



When was the surgeon planning removal?  Is a global surgical fee in force?


Did you call the original doctor? Find out when she/he was going to remove? Send a pic?


my mother said his next appointment was on March 2 or 3rd. That seemed weird to me. They aren’t dissolvable stitches. My parents are now on a cruise. Neither of his parents has been involved in taking him to the doctor.  I assume his regular doc won’t be in until Tuesday.


I don’t know what you mean about surgical fee but I’m not overly concerned about cost. He has good insurance. His father works for USPS


You can draw a circle around edges and if the redness goes beyond that, head to ER.  (am not  a doctor, but this was on a Netflix show with what seemed like decent writing for the part of a surgeon)


update: diagnosis was that it was showing slight signs of early infection. Stitches removed. antibiotic cream prescription obtained. Thanks all.



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