Single use negative pressure wound therapy in vascular patients: clinical and economic outcomes

Surgical site complications (SSCs) such as dehiscence and infection are a common issue within vascular surgeries and are a key concern to payers and clinicians. It is estimated that occurrence of complications in vascular surgery can increment length of stay by 9.72 days and costs by £3776 per episode. The objective of this research was to determine the clinical and economic impact of the prophylactic use of single use negative pressure wound therapy (sNWPT) in postoperative femoral endarterectomy incisions within a single centre in the Netherlands.

Data were extracted retrospectively from the medical notes of patients consecutively treated for femoral endarterectomy between January 2013 and December 2019 in a single centre in the Netherlands. Since August 2016, patients were treated with the sNPWT device and their data were compared with that of patients treated before the introduction of the device. Data were extracted on SSCs and associated healthcare resource use, with comparisons made between the two patient groups.

The study included a cohort of 108 patients. Data of patients treated by standard care (n=64) showed 32 (50%) patients developed complications. This reduced significantly in patients treated with the sNPWT device (n=44) of whom eight (18.2%) developed a postoperative complication (p=0.0011). Average postoperative costs per patient were €3119 for those in the standard care group and €2630 where the sNPWT device was used.

sNPWT provided clinical and economic benefits over standard care in the treatment of femoral endarterectomy patients, significantly reducing rate of complication and their associated costs.