Effect of Formaldehyde Wound Wash on Development of Local Wound Recurrences

Abstract

A group of patients with primary operable cancer of the cervix uteri and another group of patients with head and neck cancers were treated by en bloc surgical excision, followed by a therapeutic wound wash of 0.5 percent formaldehyde. The survival and local recurrence experience of these groups of patients were compared with that of comparable groups of patients who had similar surgery but no therapeutic wound wash. No significant difference in survival or rate of local recurrence could be demonstrated. Under the circumstances of this study, 0.5 percent formaldehyde was found to be of no value as a therapeutic wound wash.