Negative pressure wound therapy for massive subcutaneous emphysema: a systematic review and case series

Massive subcutaneous emphysema can cause considerable morbidity with respiratory distress. To resolve this emphysema in short-term, negative pressure wound therapy could be applied as added treatment modality. However, its use is sparsely reported, and a variety of techniques are being described. This study provides a systematic review of the available literature on the effectiveness of negative pressure wound therapy as treatment for massive subcutaneous emphysema. In addition, our institutional experience is reported through a case-series.

The PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library were systematically searched for publications on the use of negative pressure wound therapy for subcutaneous emphysema following thoracic surgery, trauma or spontaneous pneumothorax. Moreover, patients treated at our institution between 2019 and 2021 were retrospectively identified and analyzed.

The systematic review provided 10 articles presenting 23 cases. Studies demonstrated considerable heterogeneity regarding the location of incision, creation of prepectoral pocket, and surgical safety margin. Also closed incision negative pressure wound therapy and PICO^© device were discussed. Despite the apparent heterogeneity, all techniques provided favorable outcomes. No complications, reinterventions or recurrences were documented. Furthermore, retrospective data of 11 patients treated at our clinic demonstrated an immediate response to negative pressure wound therapy and a full remission of the subcutaneous emphysema at the end of negative pressure wound therapy. No recurrence requiring intervention or complications were observed.

The findings of this study suggest that negative pressure wound therapy, despite the varying techniques employed, is associated with an immediate regression of subcutaneous emphysema and full remission at the end of therapy. Given the relatively low sample size, no technique of choice could be identified. However, in general, negative pressure wound therapy appears to provide fast regression of subcutaneous emphysema and release of symptoms in all cases.