Wound care after surgery at the GP's surgery
After minor surgery performed by your GP, proper wound care is important for a speedy recovery and to prevent complications. On this page, you will find practical instructions on how to best care for the wound at home, when to contact the practice, and what to expect in terms of the results if tissue testing has been performed.
Instructions following surgical intervention by your general practitioner:
- Keep the wound as dry as possible for the first 24 hours.
- You may replace the plaster yourself, but leave any white adhesive strips (steristrips) in place; these support wound healing and may come off by themselves or be removed by your GP.
- In most cases, stitches are removed after 7 to 10 days. If you have not yet made an appointment for this, please contact the practice to schedule one.
When should you contact us?
Please contact the practice if the wound starts bleeding (again). In that case, first try to keep the area still and apply firm pressure to the wound with a gauze pad for at least 10 minutes. If the bleeding does not stop, repeat this once more. If the wound continues to bleed, please call the practice or, outside office hours, the GP out-of-hours service on 020 – 456 2000.
It is also important to contact us if the wound shows signs of infection. Watch out for signs such as increasing redness, swelling, pain or the development of a fever after a few days.
Tissue examination results
If tissue has been sent for examination, you will find the results in your patient portal after approximately two weeks. If you do not see any results after this period, please contact the practice.
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