National Clinician Survey of Outcomes for Trials in Surgical Wounds Healing by Secondary Intention ( SWHSI )

ABSTRACT

Surgical wounds healing by secondary intention are often complex, costly and slow to heal. Consistent outcome reporting ensures that interventional trials are directly comparable and less vulnerable to reporting bias, thereby enhancing the efficiency of evidence generation. Currently, no framework for outcome reporting from interventional studies of SWHSI exists. We present a national survey of clinicians as the first step to producing a core outcome set for studies involving interventions for this wound type. A pre‐piloted online survey was administered in September 2024 via the Qualtrics system, comprising three sections: perceptions, decision‐making and key outcomes in SWHSI management. Recruitment was via professional organisations, membership mailing lists and social media. One hundred and two clinician responses were received. The most common reasons reported for choosing secondary intention healing were concerns about infection (46%, 35/76), primary wound closure (48.7%, 37/76) and potential reintervention (89.5%, 68/76). All‐cause mortality at 30 days (73%, 49/67) and 1 year (70%, 47/67), wound healing at 30 days (100%, 67/67), surgical site infection (98%, 66/67), pain score (94%, 63/67), wound size (94%, 63/67), quality of life (99%, 66/67), length of hospital stay (85%, 57/67) and reintervention requirement (90%, 60/67) were reported to be important clinical trial outcomes in this population. This survey explored the main decision‐driving factors in choosing secondary intention healing and identified important trial outcomes for clinicians in this research area.