Initial experience with negative-pressure wound therapy with instillation in complex wounds

Area of Science:

• Wound Healing
• Medical Devices
• Clinical Trials

Background:

• Complex wounds, including infected or contaminated ones, present significant treatment challenges.
• Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) is a recognized modality for wound management.
• Instillation therapy combined with NPWT offers a novel approach to wound care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To document the initial clinical experience using Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy with instillation (NPWTi).
• To evaluate the efficacy of NPWTi in managing infected or contaminated complex wounds.
• To assess key outcomes such as hospitalization duration and wound closure time.

Main Methods:

• Utilized V.A.C. Ulta with Veraflo instillation system for NPWTi.
• Employed continuous negative pressure at 125 mmHg with 20-minute saline instillations between pauses.
• Wound preparation followed by graft or flap coverage.

Main Results:

• Ten patients with complex or contaminated wounds were treated.
• Mean NPWTi changes: 1.4; Mean surgeries: 2.4.
• Mean time to complete wound coverage: 6.3 days; Mean time to discharge: 11.4 days.

Conclusions:

• NPWTi demonstrated a shorter hospitalization duration compared to historical controls.
• The study is preliminary; further randomized controlled trials are needed.
• Future research should confirm NPWTi efficacy and cost-effectiveness.