Mrs Cassie Dujmovic1
1Women’s & Children’s Hospital, Adelaide, Australia
Non operative management of the giant omphalocele is a complex task requiring the support of a well functioning multidisciplinary team. This work begins at antenatal counselling and follows through to surgical repair.
Dressing a giant omphalocele in a neonate is a challenging task. Dressings need to be able to stay in place to allow for growth and development of the child, atraumatic to nurture growth and development and prevent trauma of the small child, prevent the risk of membrane rupture and infection risk. The size of the abdominal defect also needs to be supported and measures put in place to minimise further herniation.
Negative pressure wound therapy has been employed to protect the omphalocele from multiple dressing changes, prevent ongoing herniation, infection management, early discharge home and protected peri-wound skin while stimulating cell proliferation to grow epithelium over the membrane.
The multidisciplinary team involved in managing these families is extensive. All playing a large part in educating families, coming up with novel approaches to work towards early discharge from hospital and meeting the families goals.
Biography:
Cassie is a Stomal Therapy Nurse who has worked in the field for the past eight years. She has a passion for stomal therapy, wound care and care coordination of complex surgical patients. The role covers caring for and supporting patients and their families of all ages from premature neonates to adults in both the inpatient and outpatient setting