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Updated: Mar 7, 2026
Development of a Benchtop Model for Evaluating the Compatibility of Wound Dressing Materials with Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Systems
Published on: May 2, 2025
Negative pressure wound therapy in children: outcomes across a heterogeneous wound cohort
Özkan Okur1, Zehra Tabak2, Mehmet Can2
1Pediatric Surgery İsmet kaptan sokak, Dr. Behçet Uz Children's Hospital, 35100, Konak, İzmir, Turkey. ozkanokurs@gmail.com.
Insights
Pediatric negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is effective for various wound types in children. Treatment duration and outcomes vary by wound etiology, guiding future clinical expectations and research.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Surgery
- Wound Management
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is a common treatment for pediatric wounds.
- Limited real-world data exists on NPWT benchmarks stratified by etiology and age in children.
- Understanding treatment burden and closure patterns is crucial for optimizing pediatric wound care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare treatment burden and closure trajectories of pediatric wounds treated with NPWT.
- To establish etiology- and age-informed benchmarks for pediatric NPWT.
- To analyze differences in NPWT outcomes across various pediatric wound categories.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective single-center cohort study of pediatric patients (<18 years) treated with NPWT.
- Wounds categorized into surgical, acute, chronic, and burn groups.
- Standardized, age-adapted NPWT protocol with continuous mode and dressing changes every 72 hours.
Main Results:
- 106 patients included; age distribution and instillation use varied significantly by wound group.
- Treatment duration was longest for chronic wounds (13 days) and shortest for burns (6 days).
- Outcomes differed by etiology: primary closure for surgical, secondary healing for chronic, spontaneous closure for burns; grafting common in burns.
Conclusions:
- NPWT is feasible and effective for diverse pediatric wounds using a standardized, age-adapted protocol.
- Etiology-specific differences in NPWT burden and outcomes are evident.
- Findings support further prospective, multicenter evaluations of pediatric NPWT.
Purpose:
Pediatric negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is widely used, but etiology- and age-informed real-world benchmarks are limited. We compared treatment burden and closure trajectories across pediatric wound categories.
Methods:
Retrospective single-center cohort of children (< 18 years) treated with NPWT for open wounds (2020-2025). Wounds were categorized as surgical (G1), acute (G2), chronic (G3), and burns (G4). NPWT was performed in accordance with an age-adapted institutional protocol in continuous mode; dressing changes were usually performed every 72 h.
Results:
106 patients (median age 144 months, IQR 60-180) were included: G1 42, G2 22, G3 31, G4 11. Age distribution differed by group (p < 0.001), and instillation use varied (p = 0.014). Duration was longest in G3 (median 13 [8,-24] days) and shortest in G4 (median 6 [5,-9] days), while G1 and G2 were similar. Median cycle counts were similar across groups. Re-debridement was least frequent in G1. Definitive outcomes differed by etiology: primary closure predominated in G1, secondary healing in G3, and spontaneous closure in G4; grafting occurred mainly in burns, and flap reconstruction was rare.
Conclusions:
NPWT was feasible across heterogeneous pediatric wounds when used with a standardized, age-adapted approach. Etiology-specific differences in burden and outcomes inform expectations and support prospective multicenter evaluation.
