Can severe dehydration cause an infection in an open surgical wound to worsen?
After heart bypass surgery, my husband was discharged with incorrect dosages of lasix written on the discharge orders. (60 mg. twice a day) Within 3 days, he became severely dehydrated and was readmitted. He was given sodium, potassium, magnesium and iron IV’s for days…as well as antibiotics for an infection in the sternal wound causing it to be surgically reopened. Another long hospital stay ensued. (27 days) The hospital notes say that he was readmitted for infection to the sternal wound. This is not why I brought him to the ER. After calling the cardia unit, I brought him to the hospital for severe dehydration when I discovered the wrong dosage was written in the discharge order.
