Vacuum-assisted closure used for healing chronic wounds and skin grafts in the lower extremities

Over the past several years, vacuum-assisted closure has been used as an adjunctive treatment in the management of many chronic and acute wounds. A chart review of chronic wounds in the authors' wound care practice was conducted to ascertain and document the effect of vacuum-assisted closure on the healing of chronic wounds. Over a 30-month period, 70 patients with chronic, nonhealing wounds were treated with vacuum-assisted closure. Of those, 50 had vacuum-assisted closure treatment following skin graft procedures. Using vacuum-assisted closure in addition to a protocol of general supportive and local wound care resulted in a high rate of closure during an average of 48 days. All (100%) of the skin grafts healed. These clinical results suggest that vacuum-assisted closure can be a useful adjunctive treatment in the management of open and grafted wounds and that additional research and documentation are warranted.