The skin margins look red and separated. What has really happened with the incision is a wound dehiscence.

This means that the surgical excision site opened. The yellow material that is present is known as fibrinous exudate. http://www.advancedtissue.com/exploring-different-types-wound-exudate/

People often mistake this material for pus, but it is not pus.

Thankfully, this wound will heal without further surgery.

It can be treated simply with wet to dry dressings.

The dressing is dampened with saline and the wound can be covered with this dressing once daily. Or it can simply be left open. It may take 3 weeks to heal. It may leave an unfavorable scar.

However, do not be discouraged. It will heal with time. And an unfavorable scar can be revised. Good luck!

I don't know what kind a physician performed the procedure, but this does not look like the kind of result you should expect from a qualified surgeon. The wound has likely separated because glue was used to close a portion of it; and who knows what type of sutures were (or were not) used to close the deeper portions of the wound. The yellowish material on the wound is not seepage or dried drainage, but instead dermal necrosis. If the wound just separated the skin edges should be straight. The skin edges are irregular (curvy) in th epicture you show because of tissue loss. The base of the wound looks healthy; that is good news. There is no infection at this time. The wound requires debridement (the yellowish material needs to be cut away) and then wet-to-dry dressing changes two to three times per day. removing the non-vital tissue will reduce the risk of infection and allow it to heal faster. The wound will have to heal by secondary intention (close from the bottom up), and this will take several weeks yet. Yes this will heal, but the directions you were given by your physician (rinse, pat dry, cover) seem less than optimal for the wound you have. The wound surface should be kept moist, and there are several ways to do that. A wet-to-dry dressing is simple and commonly used. Just a plain dry dressing is not appropriate. I would recommend you consider finding another physician to help you, especially if you have further problems.

I agree, not infected. Do not put alcohol or peroxide in the wound. Do not put bleach in the wound.

Go back to see your surgeon. This is a tissue problem more than a problem with how the wound was closed. This happens. It isn't fun, but it happens. The good news is that it usually heals. The wound will go through several stages. The first was the fact that it didn't look good. That bad tissue needs to fall off and be replaced. In that process, it will actually look worse before it looks better. The yellow stuff needs to come out. It may look like a bigger hole. Then you will have that lovely red tissue we call granulation tissue. It is bumpy, red, and wet looking. That is a great sign that the wound is healing. You already have a wee amount of it.

Follow your doctor's instructions. Don't listen to your aunt's hairdresser's cousin, or any other people who really shouldn't be giving medical advice. Furthermore, pick your surgeon over me and the rest of the internet docs, as we aren't actually seeing you in real life.

I am not clear what cyst was removed and where the pictured wound is located. Practically, however, all what you need to do - besides following up with your MD - is to care for the wound with the "wet - and - dry" technique. Get sterile gauze pads 2 inch / 2 inch. Soak one or two in Normal Saline solution or sterile water or Dakin's solutionn ( sodium hypochliride) . Apply the wet gauze on the open wound. Cover everything with a layer of Saran wrap or simple sheet of a plastic bag. Put a dry cover on top. After several hours remove the dried gauze and with it the "wound junk "attached. Reapply a new wet gauze and start from the beginning. Slowly the would will clean up and slowly heal. Once a day you can flush the wound with 3% hydrogen peroxide too. Judging from the picture you need no antibiotics. Do not cover wound with creams / ointments. This wound needs the breath...

Dear "infected incision site":

So sorry for your troubles! There are many variations to take care of an opened incision. Your surgeon will direct you in the manner he feels best.

Concerns regarding infection are when the wound becomes progressively redder or hotter and you may develop fever and chills.

Under the skin is fat. This yellow material will slough as it is separating from the attached tissues leaving you with improving granulation tissue (the beefy red tissue you see in the photo). At about 3 weeks after the tissues part and the yellow exudate separates, you will experience a sense of tightening where the skin and underlying tissues will begin to come together. A red to pink coloration around the edges indicates the added circulation to bring the wound healing cells and factors necessary to heal the wound. You can expect the wound to close in about 12 weeks.

As I said, there are different ways to clean and care for a wound. Please return to your surgeon for continued care and monitoring.

I hope this is helpful. All the best!

Based on the photo, I don't think it is infected. It just looks like the incision opened. The yellow stuff is what is called fibrinous debris, which is basically wet scab, dried seepage of plasma. I would clean it with 1/2 water 1/2 peroxide 2-3x/day then apply aquaphor or vaseline. It will have to heal by secondary intention (granulate in; you already have some granulation tissue, that bright pink tissue) then you can consider a revision to make it look better. Best. of luck.

Follow up with your doctor. It will heal, but you need local wound care.

Your photo and description demonstrates a partial thickness skin wound which will heal with local dressing changes. I should follow up with your plastic surgeon so that you can be monitored regularly until your wound heals up.

This wound has obviously opened. Since it may be infected I would follow the doctor's advice and do good wound care and this will heal in by itself. You may need a scar revision or cyst re-excision in the future.