A new portable negative pressure wound therapy device: a prospective study investigating clinical outcomes

Closed surgical incision sites at high risk of complications, and with exudate or leakage, are increasingly being managed with closed incision negative pressure wound therapy (ciNPWT) to reduce tissue stress and increase the force necessary to disrupt the incision. This study was undertaken to investigate the performance and safety of a canister-based, single-use NPWT (suNPWT) system when used on closed surgical incision sites.

The investigation was designed as a prospective, open, non-comparative, multicentre study aimed at confirming the safety and performance attributes of the suNPWT system when applied to low-to-moderately exuding closed surgical incisions. The primary performance measure was the wound remaining closed from baseline to the last follow-up visit on day 14. Secondary performance measures included: wound and periwound condition; wear time of the system; product consumption; adherence to therapy; and patients' pain progress. Details of adverse events were also collected.

Some 35 patients were recruited. The closed surgical incisions responded well to treatment with the tested suNPWT system. All wounds remained closed throughout the investigation. Consistent with other studies of ciNPWT reporting low infection rates, the current study observed either no or low exudation in 90.4% of wounds at the final visit, together with absence of surgical site infection. Pain severity levels were low, both at dressing change and during delivery of negative pressure. No serious adverse device events were reported.

In this study, the suNPWT system supported the healing of closed surgical incisions with no safety concerns relating to its use.