Negative-pressure wound therapy as an adjunct to treating pyoderma gangrenosum

Abstract

Negative-pressure wound therapy has been shown to be effective in re-epithelialisation in recalcitrant pyoderma gangrenosum. This case documents a patient whose co-morbidities limited the standard treatment options and required an alternative management plan. The STOP GAP randomised control trial found that both oral prednisolone and ciclosporin were equally effective in the treatment of pyoderma gangrenosum. However, in this case, the patient had type 2 diabetes and prednisolone resulted in persistently elevated blood glucose levels. Lower doses were ineffective and it was subsequently stopped once other treatments showed a clinical improvement. A recent diagnosis of breast cancer prevented the use of ciclosporin and other immunosuppressive treatments. After multidisciplinary discussion, involving breast surgeons, oncology, dermatology and tissue viability, doxycycline was commenced alongside a portable negative-pressure device with twice weekly tissue viability input. The introduction of this device resulted in a rapid reduction in the wound size and facilitated healing with an excellent outcome.

The Pathophysiology and Treatment of Pyoderma Gangrenosum—Current Options and New Perspectives

“…Almeida et al [69] conducted a systematic review in which improvement was observed in 85.1% of the patients treated with this method. Numerous case reports demonstrated that NPWT has resulted in rapid healing and satisfactory clinical outcomes [70][71][72]. On the other hand, some authors indicate that NPWT alone, without skin grafting, does not accelerate healing time [73].…”