The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical and economic burden of wound care in the Tropics via a 5‐year institutional population health review. Within our data analysis, wounds are broadly classified into neuro‐ischaemic ulcers (NIUs), venous leg ulcers (VLUs), pressure injuries (PIs), and surgical site infections (SSIs). Between 2013 and 2017, there were a total of 56 583 wound‐related inpatient admissions for 41 461 patients, with a 95.1% increase in wound episodes per 1000 inpatient admissions over this period (142 and 277 wound episodes per 1000 inpatient admissions in 2013 and 2017, respectively). In 2017, the average length of stay for each wound episode was 17.7 days, which was 2.4 times that of an average acute admission at our institution. The average gross charge per wound episode was USD $12 967. Among the 12 218 patients with 16 674 wound episodes in 2017, 71.5% were more than 65 years of age with an average Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) of 7.2. Half (51.9%) were moderately or severely frail, while 41.3% had two or more wound‐related admission episodes. In 2017, within our healthcare cluster, the gross healthcare costs for all inpatient wound episodes stand at USD $216 million within hospital care and USD $596 000 within primary care. Most NIU patients (97.2%) had diabetes and they had the most comorbidities (average CCI 8.4) and were the frailest group of patients (44.9% severely frail). The majority of the VLU disease burden was at the specialist outpatient setting, with the average 1‐year VLU recurrence rate at 52.5% and median time between healing and recurrence at 9.5 months. PI patients were the oldest (86.5% more than 65 years‐old), constituted the largest cohort of patients with 3874 patients at an incidence of 64.6 per 1000 admissions in 2017, and have a 1‐year all‐cause mortality rate of 14.3%. For SSI patients, there was a 125% increase of 14.2 SSI wound episodes per 1000 inpatient admissions in 2013 to 32.0 in 2017, and a 413% increase in wound‐related 30‐day re‐admissions, from 40 in 2013 (4.1% of all surgeries) to 205 (8.3% of all surgeries) in 2017. The estimated gross healthcare cost per patient ranges from USD $15789–17 761 across the wound categories. Similar to global data, there is a significant and rising trend in the clinical and economic burden of wound care in Tropics.

There is a lifetime risk of 15% to 25% of development of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) in patients with diabetes mellitus. DFUs need to be followed up on and assessed for development of complications and/or resolution, which was traditionally performed using manual measurement. Our study aims to compare the intra-and inter-rater reliability of an artificial intelligence-enabled wound imaging mobile application (CARES4WOUNDS [C4W] system, Tetsuyu, Singapore) with traditional measurement. This is a prospective crosssectional study on 28 patients with DFUs from June 2020 to January 2021. The main wound parameters assessed were length and width. For traditional manual measurement, area was calculated by overlaying traced wound on graphical paper. Intra-and inter-rater reliability was analysed using intra-class correlation statistics. A value of <0.5, 0.5-0.75, 0.75-0.9, and >0.9 indicates poor, moderate, good, and excellent reliability, respectively. Seventy-five wound episodes from 28 patients were collected and a total of 547 wound images were analysed in this study. The median wound area during the first clinic consultation and all wound episodes was 3.75 cm 2 (interquartile range[IQR] 1.40-16.50) and 3.10 cm 2 (IQR 0.60-14.84), respectively. There is excellent intra-rater reliability of C4W on three different image captures of the same wound (intra-rater reliability ranging 0.933-0.994). There is also excellent inter-rater reliability between three C4W devices for length (0.947), width (0.923), and area (0.965). Good inter-rater reliability for length, width, and area (range 0.825-0.934) was obtained between wound nurse measurement and each of the C4W devices. In conclusion, we obtained good inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of C4W measurements against traditional wound measurement. The C4W is a useful adjunct in monitoring DFU wound progress.

Present guidelines recommend a multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach to diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) care, but relevant data from Asia are lacking. We aim to evaluate the clinical and economic outcomes of an MDT approach in a lower extremity amputation prevention programme (LEAPP) for DFU care in an Asian population. We performed a case-control study of 84 patients with DFU between January 2017 and October 2017 (retrospective control) vs 117 patients with DFU between December 2017 and July 2018 (prospective LEAPP cohort). Comparing the clinical outcomes between the retrospective cohort and the LEAPP cohort, there was a significant decrease in mean time from referral to index clinic visit (38.6 vs 9.5 days, P < .001), increase in outpatient podiatry follow-up (33% vs 76%, P < .001), decrease in 1-year minor amputation rate (14% vs 3%, P = .007), and decrease in 1-year major amputation rate (9% vs 3%, P = .05). Simulation of cost avoidance demonstrated an annualised cost avoidance of USD $1.86m (SGD $2.5m) for patients within the LEAPP cohort. In conclusion, similar to the data from Western societies, an MDT approach in an Asian population, via a LEAPP for patients with DFU,

Singapore has been preparing for further pandemics since the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pandemic where Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), a 1700-bed tertiary hospital in central Singapore, was the epicenter of the battle against SARS. This led to the opening of the National Centre for Infectious Disease (NCID) in September 2019, which is adjacent to TTSH in the same campus. The NCID is a 330-bed, purpose-built facility, consisting of a screening center, isolation and cohort wards, high-level isolation unit, intensive care units (ICUs), radiology suite, imaging facilities, operating rooms, and an independent laboratory. 1 NCID together with TTSH is currently leading the national effort for screening and management of COVID-19 patients in Singapore.January 23, 2020, marked the day Singapore became one of the first countries outside China to report a case of SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes the coronavirus disease . By February 6, 2020, Singapore had the highest confirmed number of cases outside China. 2 However, Singapore's sustained multipronged efforts in early detection and containment has led to a control in COVID-19 cases and received acknowledgement by Harvard University 3 and World Health Organisation. 4 We had been involved with COVID-19 suspect and COVID-19-positive patients early in the course of the pandemic. All surgeries for COVID-19 suspect and COVID-19-positive patients are performed in a negative pressure operating room. When operating on COVID-19 suspect and COVID-19-positive patients, we don full tier

Objective: The use of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) for post-surgical cardiothoracic, orthopedic, plastic, and obstetric and gynecologic procedures has been described. However, there are no data regarding its use for lower limb bypass incisions. We aimed to investigate the outcomes of NPWT in preventing surgical site infection (SSI) in patients with lower limb arterial bypass incisions.Materials and Methods: We retrospectively used data of 42 patients who underwent lower limb arterial bypass with reversed great saphenous vein between March 2014 and June 2016 and compared conventional wound therapy and NPWT with regard to preventing SSI.Results: Twenty-eight (67%) patients underwent conventional wound therapy and 14 (33%) underwent NPWT. There were no statistical differences regarding patient characteristics and mean SSI risk scores between the two patient groups (13.7% for conventional wound therapy vs. 13.4% for NPWT; P=0.831). In the conventional group, nine instances of SSI (32%) and three (11%) of these required subsequent surgical wound debridement, whereas in the NPWT group, there was no SSI incidence (P=0.019). Secondary outcomes such as the length of hospital stay, 30-day readmission rate, and need for secondary vascular procedures were not statistically different between the two groups.Conclusion: The use of NPWT for lower limb arterial bypass incisions is superior to that of conventional wound therapy because it may prevent SSIs.

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Diabetic Foot in Primary and Tertiary (DEFINITE) Care is an inter‐institutional and multi‐disciplinary team (MDT) health systems innovation programme at a healthcare cluster in Singapore. We aim to achieve coordinated MDT care across primary and tertiary care for patients with diabetic foot ulcers (DFU), within our public healthcare cluster ‐ an integrated network of seven primary care polyclinics and two acute care tertiary hospitals (1700‐bed and 800‐bed) with a total catchment population of 2.2 million residents. Results from prospective DEFINITE Care is referenced against a retrospective 2013–2017 cohort, which was previously published. Cardiovascular profile of the study population is compared against the same population's profile in the preceding 12 months. Between June 2020 and December 2021, there were 3475 unique patients with DFU with mean age at 65.9 years, 61.2% male, mean baseline HbA1c at 8.3% with mean diabetes duration at 13.3 years, mean diabetes complication severity index (DCSI) at 5.6 and mean Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) at 6.8. In the 12‐months preceding enrolment to DEFINITE Care, 35.5% had surgical foot debridement, 21.2% had minor lower extremity amputation (LEA), 7.5% had major LEA whilst 16.8% had revascularisation procedures. At 18‐months after the implementation of DEFINITE Care programme, the absolute minor and major amputation rates were 8.7% (n = 302) and 5.1% (n = 176), respectively, equating to a minor and major LEA per 100000 population at 13.7 and 8.0, respectively. This represents an 80% reduction in minor amputation rates (P < .001) and a 35% reduction in major amputation rates (P = .005) when referenced against a retrospective 2013–2017 cohort, which had minor and major LEA per 100000 population at 68.9 and 12.4, respectively. As compared to the preceding 12 months, there was also a significant improvement in cardiovascular profile (glycemic and lipid control) within the DEFINITE population, with improved mean HbAc1 (7.9% from 8.4%, P < .001), low‐density lipoprotein (LDL) levels (2.1 mmol/L from 2.2, P < .001), total cholesterol (3.9 mmol/L from 4.1, P < .001) and triglycerides levels (1.6 mmol/L from 1.8, P = .002). Multivariate analysis revealed a history of minor amputation in the preceding 12 months to be an independent predictor for major and minor amputation within the study period of 18 months (Hazard Ratio 3.4 and 1.8, respectively, P < .001). In conclusion, within DEFINITE care, 18‐month data showed a significant reduction of minor and major LEA rates, with improved medical optimisation and cardiovascular profile within the study population.

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