The use of a surgical incision management system on vascular surgery incisions: a pilot study

Health care-associated infections in hospitals, including surgical site infections, contribute significantly to morbidity as well as mortality. Surgical incision management (SIM) using negative pressure wound therapy (Prevena™ Incision Management System, Kinetic Concepts, Inc., San Antonio, TX, USA) is designed to cover and protect closed surgical incisions from external factors including infectious sources and local trauma, while negative pressure removes fluid and infectious material from the surgical incision. A prospective case-control study assessed wound complications in patients undergoing vascular bypass procedures, where both femoral areas were incised to gain access to the femoral arteries. SIM was placed on one femoral area while a standard postoperative wound dressing was placed on the contralateral femoral area. Eight patients were included in this pilot study. All of them required bilateral femoral artery access. During the follow-up period patients were monitored for wound complications. All wound complications requiring surgical intervention were considered significant. No significant wound complications occurred in wounds treated with SIM, compared with three significant complications in control wounds. These preliminary data would suggest a potential reduction in wound complications and no observed increase in haemorrhage in high-risk patients with severe co-morbidities undergoing vascular surgery.