Negative pressure wound therapy: eleven-year experience at a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Background: Management of complicated wounds is a reconstructive challenge. A reconstructive surgeon has to be ready to face new challenges every day. Negative pressure wound therapy has revolutionized the management of complex wounds. We are presenting our experience with this wound care modality in the past 11 years.Methods: It was a prospective study conducted from January 2006 to December 2016 on patients having wounds of varied etiologies, who consented to participate in this study. Custom made low cost NPWT was used till definitive wound closure.Results: A total of 568 patients consented to participate in the study during these 11 years. No major complications were seen. Most of these were males (60.73%) in their 3rd and 4th decade. Trauma was the leading cause of wounds in 38.14%, followed by diabetic foot wounds in 21.5%. Ankle and foot was the most common site of wounds (30.92%) followed by leg (24.01%). A total of 322 small, 218 medium and 97 large size dressings were used. Most of the patients improved with the NPWT. No major complications were seen.Conclusions: NPWT is safe, effective and has proved to be revolutionary in managing difficult wounds. With the use of customized low cost NPWT the benefit can be extended to underprivileged population in under developed nations too.

Customized vacuum assisted closure therapy of wounds as a simple and cost-effective technique of wound closure-a prospective observational study from underdeveloped world

“…5,13 In our study maximum numbers of patients were in the age group of 31-40 years (25%). Our finding was in concordance with those noted in their study by Zargar et al 14 The likely reason for this could be because of the fact that patients in this peak and productive age of life are most active and outdoors and are more at risk of sustaining accidental injuries and trauma. In our study 55 patients were males (68.75%) and 25 were females (31.25%) with a male to female ratio of 2.2:1.…”

“…Similar minor complications like pain, bleeding, surrounding skin maceration were seen in their studies by Haroon and Madhav. 14,19 The average total cost of the VAC therapy in our study was 863.13 (±399.82) Indian rupees which amount to a mean of about 11.76 USD. This cost applies only to VAC therapy excluding hospital charges.…”