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Exploring if Patients Can Safely and Easily Swab Their Own Surgical Wounds at Home

View on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

At a glance

What the study gets you: Access to the study treatment being tested
Type of study: Interventional (receives a drug or procedure)
Time in hospital: Mix of remote tasks and in-person visits
Drug or intervention: Self-swabbing of surgical wound (procedure)
How long the study runs: Study runs about 5 months (dates as stated)
About the drug or intervention: Self-swabbing of surgical wound — procedure: Participants will perform self-swabbing of their surgical wound under observation by a research practitioner via secure video call.
Patient visit burden: Not specified by the sponsor

Type of study: Testing a treatment
Ages: 18 Years and over
Who: All
Number of participants: 43
Started: 2026-01-06
Last checked: 2025-09

Plain English Summary

What is this study?

• Testing a new treatment for cardiac surgery
• NA - 43 participants
• The goal of this observational feasibility study is to learn if patients can safely, acceptably, and effectively collect their own wound swabs at home to detect clinically significant organisms in adults aged 18 and over who have had cardiac surgery via median sternotomy (central chest wound)

Who can take part?

• Ages 18 Years and over
• Diagnosed with cardiac surgery

Where?

• Brighton - Royal Sussex County Hospital
• Harefield - Harefield Hospital

This is a simplified summary. Always discuss with your doctor before making any decisions.

About This Trial

The goal of this observational feasibility study is to learn if patients can safely, acceptably, and effectively collect their own wound swabs at home to detect clinically significant organisms in adults aged 18 and over who have had cardiac surgery via median sternotomy (central chest wound). Participants will be recruited from two sites: Harefield Hospital (Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London) and the Royal Sussex County Hospital (University Hospitals Sussex, Brighton). The main questions it aims to answer are: * Can home-based patient self-swabbing of surgical wounds provide swabs of sufficient quality for microbiological testing? * Is self-swabbing at home safe and acceptable to patients following cardiac surgery? * Could this approach be a cost-effective way to monitor for surgical wound infections? Participants will: * Receive a co-designed self-swabbing instruction pack, created in collaboration with a patient and public working group and clinical experts. * Be observed via Microsoft Teams by a research practitioner while self-swabbing (or having their carer do so) to assess usability and adherence to instructions. * Participate in a brief interview to share their experiences and feedback on the instructions and swabbing process. * Send completed swabs to the hospital laboratory for analysis to determine the usability and timeliness of the samples.

Cardiac SurgeryInfection, Soft TissueWound HealingSwabsSelf Management

How this trial compares with your answers

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What we know so far

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Preliminary match based on your answers. Full eligibility requires on-site assessment including medical history, physical exam, and lab tests. This does not guarantee enrolment.

Eligibility at a Glance

Key info

Age: 18 Years and over
Who can join: All genders

What the study is looking for

✓Feasibility Study
✓heart surgery ≥18 years old patients with a central chest wound, where the wound is a closed wound - assessed by...
✓Patients having elective or urgent surgery
✓Patients who have been discharged home or to a care home
✓Willing and able to provide written agreement to take part prior to participation in the clinical investigation.

Who cannot take part

✗Feasibility Study
✗Patients having emergency or salvage surgery
✗Patients still in hospital
✗Patients with a dressing covering their wound at the time of the video consultation.
✗Undergoing active cancer treatment at time of consent/ or planning to start cancer treatment within the study period...

See the full criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * Feasibility Study * Cardiac surgery ≥18 years old patients with a central chest wound, where the wound is a closed wound - assessed by the research nurse * Patients having elective or urgent surgery * Patients who have been discharged home or to a care home * Willing and able to provide written informed consent prior to participation in the clinical investigation. * Willing and able to comply with all study related procedures, with or without digital resource/internet access. Exclusion Criteria: * Feasibility Study * Cardiac surgery patients with open wounds extending beyond skin level, or where deep tissue, organs or implants are visible, wounds with constant or heavy discharge of fluid, wounds leaking pus at the time of the video consultation. * Patients having emergency or salvage surgery * Patients still in hospital * Patients with a dressing covering their wound at the time of the video consultation. * Congenital or acquired immunodeficiency, bone marrow disease, diabetes, autoimmune conditions requiring immunosuppressive treatment, any immunosuppressive medication at the time of consent or within the last 4 weeks before consent. * Undergoing active cancer treatment at time of consent/ or planning to start cancer treatment within the study period or completed cancer treatment within the last 4 weeks of the study commencing. * Patients who lack capacity to consent

Where Is This Study? (2 UK sites)

Royal Sussex County Hospital

Brighton BN2 5BE, United Kingdom

Hospital R&D contact (matched)

Scott Harfield

uhsussex.research@nhs.net 01273 696955 ext. 67497

Harefield Hospital

Harefield UB9 6JH, United Kingdom

Hospital R&D contact (matched)

Main Email: gstt.research.rbhh@nhs.net

gstt.research.rbhh@nhs.net n/a

Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov · Last verified: 2025-09