Negative pressure wound therapy in head and neck surgery

Area of Science:

• Surgical Oncology
• Wound Healing
• Plastic Surgery

Background:

• Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) accelerates healing but literature on its use in head and neck reconstruction is limited.
• This study reviews institutional experience with NPWT in head and neck reconstruction to define its applications, safety, and effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the indications, safety, and efficacy of negative pressure dressings in head and neck reconstruction.
• To identify risk factors for compromised wound healing and characteristics of complex wounds treated with NPWT.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective case series of 115 patients who received NPWT for head and neck reconstruction between 2005 and 2011.
• Data collected included indications, NPWT details, adverse events, wound healing outcomes, risk factors (radiation, hypothyroidism, diabetes), and wound complexity (salivary contamination, bone/great vessel exposure, previous free flap, peristomal).

Main Results:

• NPWT was primarily used for neck wounds (81.7%), with a mean wound size of 5.6 cm.
• Most patients (71.3%) had risk factors for impaired healing, and 79.1% had complex wounds.
• Adverse events were low (3.5%), indicating a favorable safety profile for NPWT in this patient cohort.

Conclusions:

• Negative pressure wound therapy is a safe and potentially beneficial tool for managing complex wounds in head and neck surgery.
• NPWT can aid healing in patients with compromised healing capacity, offering a valuable adjunctive therapy.