Effects of different negative pressure wound therapy modes on wound healing: a systematic review

Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has been widely used in wound care, yet the optimal application mode-continuous, intermittent, or dynamic-remains unclear. This systematic review aimed to compare the effects of different NPWT modes on wound-healing-related outcomes and to provide evidence for mode selection in clinical practice.

Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search was conducted across 11 databases-PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, ProQuest, CINAHL, Web of Science, CENTRAL, CNKI, CBM, VIP, and WANFANG-from 1997 to 2024.

Ten clinical studies and 15 animal studies were included. Clinical studies involved both acute and chronic wounds, whereas animal studies mainly used full-thickness skin wound models. Reported outcomes included clinical efficacy, wound microenvironment, and molecular-level changes. Current evidence suggests that continuous, intermittent, and dynamic NPWT may influence wound healing in different ways. Compared with continuous NPWT, the two non-continuous modes-intermittent NPWT and dynamic NPWT-appeared to offer potential advantages in selected outcomes, particularly with respect to wound healing speed, tissue perfusion, and granulation-related responses.

Due to substantial heterogeneity in wound types, parameter settings, outcome measures, and study designs, the available evidence remains insufficient to establish a definitive ranking among NPWT modes or to determine optimal treatment parameters. Future research should focus on large-scale, high-quality, multicenter studies with refined wound-type stratification and greater standardization of pressure parameters and outcome measures to clarify the mode-specific effects, indications, and parameter settings of NPWT.