Can a Low Cost, Simple Needle-Aspirated Compression Dressing Reduce Surgical Site Infection Rates of Primarily Closed Ileostomy and Colostomy Reversal Wounds?

Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) will be studied in colorectal surgery patients undergoing ostomy reversal surgery. The immediate goal is to compare primary wound closure against primary closure with needle-aspirated compression dressing, and determine if risk of potential ostomy site wound infections is decreased. The investigators would also like to evaluate if this compression dressing can increase prevalence of complete wound closure by 12 weeks (last planned clinic visit). NPWT using a continuous suction device was shown to decrease surgical site infection (SSI) at ostomy reversal sites undergoing primary closure. There is a lack of published literature studying NPWT dressings without an associated suction device. The investigators will be using a low-cost simple needle-aspirated suction technique to provide negative pressure under a tegaderm/gauze dressing, at the time of placement. Patients will be consented and randomized into a negative pressure group, or a control group consisting of the same dressing under normal pressure. All adult patients undergoing ostomy reversal surgery who consent to the study will be included. Exclusion criteria include prior recurrent skin infections, prior stoma-site infection, or large parastomal hernia. Patients in the negative pressure group will have the pressure under the dressing measured immediately prior to removal on post-operative day 2.