Clinical effectiveness of topical negative pressure for dermal substitutes in burns

The Combined Use of Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy and Dermal Substitutes for Tissue Repair and Regeneration

In clinical practice, skin defects occur frequently due to various kinds of acute and chronic diseases. The standard treatment for these wounds is autografting, which usually results in complications such as scar formation and new wounds at donor sites. The advent of dermal substitutes has provided a novel method for wound repair, and rapid angiogenesis of the dermal substitutes is crucial for the graft to take. At present, many strategies have been developed to improve the process of vascularisation, some of which have shown promising potentials, but they could be very far from clinical applications. Most recently, negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has been used extensively in clinical practice for wound care and management. It has been reported that NPWT reduces the time required for vascular ingrowth into the dermal substitute and improves graft take, indicating great potentials for wound repair. This article presents a comprehensive overview of the combined use of NPWT and dermal substitutes for tissue repair and regeneration. Relative concerns and prospects are also discussed.

Topical negative pressure improves autograft take by altering nutrient diffusion: A hypothesis

The one-step surgical procedure for dermal substitutes combined with topical negative pressure (TNP) has proven effective for treating deep skin defects with improved graft take. The primary mechanism by which TNP improves autograft take is unknown. Some studies suggest that TNP promotes the rapid angiogenesis of dermal substitutes, improving graft take. However, at the early stage of one-step transplantation, the vascular system has not formed and imbibition is the main mode of nutrient supply. TNP can shorten the diffusion distance from the wound bed to the graft, leading to the timely renewal of the wound exudate via suction, removing any surplus exudate, and reducing tissue edema. In addition, TNP can regulate the local blood flow and inhibit bacterial colonization. Therefore, we hypothesized that TNP establishes a rapid balance between the nutrient supply to the wound bed and nutritional requirement of the graft via these pathways in the relatively closed, moist environment, improving autograft take. However, this balance could be affected by any negative pressure, intermittent or continuous. It is necessary to test this hypothesis in laboratory and clinical studies of the mode of nutrient supply in the imbibition phase and the change in exudate content.