Reducing Risks Associated With Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy: Strategies for Clinical Practice

The Evolution of Commercial Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Systems over the Past Three Decades

Significance: Since the introduction of the first commercial negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) system nearly three decades ago, several key technological innovations have led to the wide adoption of the therapy. This is a review of the history and innovation of commercial NPWT systems for adjunctive management of open wounds. Recent Advances: Technical modifications have broadened NPWT options to include innovative dressing interfaces, tubing configurations, power sources, capability of topical wound solution instillation or irrigation, canister versus canister-free configurations, smart technology, and disposable versus larger reusable therapy units. While these options complicate product selection, they have greatly expanded the potential to manage a wide variety of wounds in patients who previously may not have been candidates for NPWT. Critical Issues: Basic yet mandatory requirements of NPWT include delivering an accurate level of negative pressure to the wound bed, maintaining a seal, removing wound surface exudate through the dressing interface, and patient adherence to prescribed therapy. Meeting these requirements is challenging in the face of variable wound types, wound locations, exudate levels, and exudate viscosity. While there are a growing number of marketed NPWT systems, each may have different characteristics and performance. Evaluating the functionality of each system and relevant accessories is complicated, especially as additional manufacturers enter the market. Understanding the key innovations and specific challenges they are intended to solve may aid health care providers in selecting appropriate NPWT technologies for patients. Future Directions: Evolving technology, including artificial intelligence, will likely play a major role in redefining NPWT safety, simplicity, and reliability.

Recent advances in molecular mechanisms of skin wound healing and its treatments

The skin, being a multifaceted organ, performs a pivotal function in the complicated wound-healing procedure, which encompasses the triggering of several cellular entities and signaling cascades. Aberrations in the typical healing process of wounds may result in atypical scar development and the establishment of a persistent condition, rendering patients more vulnerable to infections. Chronic burns and wounds have a detrimental effect on the overall quality of life of patients, resulting in higher levels of physical discomfort and socio-economic complexities. The occurrence and frequency of prolonged wounds are on the rise as a result of aging people, hence contributing to escalated expenditures within the healthcare system. The clinical evaluation and treatment of chronic wounds continue to pose challenges despite the advancement of different therapeutic approaches. This is mainly owing to the prolonged treatment duration and intricate processes involved in wound healing. Many conventional methods, such as the administration of growth factors, the use of wound dressings, and the application of skin grafts, are used to ease the process of wound healing across diverse wound types. Nevertheless, these therapeutic approaches may only be practical for some wounds, highlighting the need to advance alternative treatment modalities. Novel wound care technologies, such as nanotherapeutics, stem cell treatment, and 3D bioprinting, aim to improve therapeutic efficacy, prioritize skin regeneration, and minimize adverse effects. This review provides an updated overview of recent advancements in chronic wound healing and therapeutic management using innovative approaches.

Retained Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Foams as a Cause of Infection Persistence

Significance: Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has become a valuable adjunct in the treatment of acute and chronic wounds in several surgical disciplines. Retained foams are among its side effects, and they pose a rare but devastating complication at the site of this therapy, which might be associated with wound-healing complications, infection persistence, repeated surgical revisions, and prolonged antibiotic courses. Recent Advances: In the past 15 years, an increasing number of studies have identified this potential problem. Although the exact incidence remains unknown, initial studies have indicated rates of up to 10% in large collectives being treated by NPWT. Critical Issues: The lack of radiopaque markers does not allow for the visual control of retained foams using plain radiographs. Further imaging methods (e.g., CT and MRI) also do not help in adequate differential diagnosis. The lack of routine documentation of the number, type, and localization of the inserted foam(s) and unplanned surgery with a different surgical team pose risk factors for foam retainment. Future Directions: Introducing new documentation records for wounds treated with NPWT is recommended. At foam removal, all dressing materials should be examined for integrity. The development of foams with radiopaque markers by the industry, such as those routinely used in surgical gauze swabs, might also be a useful step to minimize the risk of foam retainment within wounds.

[ALGINATE versus negative-pressure therapy: Comparison of the clinical effectiveness, tolerance and costs in management of patients after surgical excision. Multicenter, randomized non-inferiority clinical trial on 113 patients]

INTRODUCTION

Pure calcium alginate dressing (ALGINATE) and Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) are frequently used for the preparation of skin excisions for a split thickness skin graft take. The trial compared the healing efficacy, safety and cost of patient care for these two treatments.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This randomized, non-inferiority trial enrolled 113 patients who underwent skin excision (>30 cm²) and received ALGINATE or NPWT. The primary outcome was the time to obtain optimal granulation tissue for a split thickness skin graft take. Secondary outcomes were the occurrence of adverse events (AEs) and the impact of the patient care cost on the Social Security budget.

RESULTS

The mean time to optimal granulation was similar between ALGINATE and NPWT: approximately 20 days. No AE was reported with ALGINATE while 24 % of patients treated with NPWT presented an AE. Following hospitalization, 94 % of ALGINATE patients were cared for at home by a private nurse, while 90 % of NPWT patients were followed up in aftercare and rehabilitation facilities or home hospitalization. Therefore, the cost of treatment per patient for the French Social Security was 498 € with ALGINATE and 2104 € with NPWT.

CONCLUSION

This trial has demonstrated that ALGINATE has a similar healing efficacy to that of NPWT, and that it is markedly better with regard to patient safety and cost savings. ALGINATE should therefore be preferred to NPWT in this indication.

ALGINATE versus NPWT in the Preparation of Surgical Excisions for an STSG: ATEC Trial

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.

A calcium alginate dressing (ALGINATE) and negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) are frequently used to treat wounds which heal by secondary intention. This trial compared the healing efficacy and safety of these 2 treatments.

New tools in wound care to support evidence-based best practice

Throughout history, various wound healing and management concepts have been recorded, with some approaches such as honey, silver and larvae still in use and others such as blood-letting completely dismissed. In more recent times, dressing products have begun evolving, moving on from basic first-aid supplies to products that support positive healing by addressing the needs of the wound bed and considering underlying factors that impact healing. With an ageing population, the incidence of chronic wounds is predicted to rise, and chronic wounds can negatively impact the lives of patients physically, emotionally and financially. Clinicians continue to explore and review new approaches surrounding the management of wounds, as it is imperative that clinicians use technological advances in wound management alongside established gold standard evidence-based practice to achieve positive outcomes for patients experiencing delayed or challenging wound healing.

Therapeutic advances in wound healing

Wound healing is a complex physiological process that occurs in the human body involving the sequential activation of multiple cell types and signaling pathways in a coordinated manner. Chronic wounds and burns clearly decrease quality of life of the patients since they are associated with an increase in physical pain and socio-economical complications. Furthermore, incidence and prevalence of chronic wounds (unlike burns) have been increasing mainly due to population aging resulting in increased costs for national health systems. Thus, the development of new and more cost-effective technologies/therapies is not only of huge interest but also necessary to improve the long-term sustainability of national health systems. This review covers the current knowledge on recent technologies/therapies for skin regeneration, such as: wound dressings; skin substitutes; exogenous growth factor based therapy and systemic therapy; external tissue expanders; negative pressure; oxygen; shock wave, and photobiomodulation wound therapies. Associated benefits and risks as well as the clinical use and availability are all addressed for each therapy. Moreover, future trends in wound care including novel formulations using metallic nanoparticles and topical insulin are herein presented. These novel formulations have shown to be promising therapeutic options in the near future that may change the wound care paradigm.

Prophylactic negative pressure wound therapy for surgical site infection in obese women undergoing cesarean section: an evidence synthesis with trial sequential analysis

OBJECTIVE

Current evidence for negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) on surgical site infection (SSI) and wound complications in cesarean section is conflicting. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of prophylactic NPWT for preventing SSI and other wound complications in obese women undergoing cesarean section (CS).

METHODS

We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library and clinicaltTrial.gov to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared NPWT with standard dressing for cesarean section. The primary outcome was SSI. Secondary outcomes were overall wound complications and hospital readmission. Risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was calculated using random-effects models. Review Manager 5.3 was applied to analyze the collected data.

RESULTS

Eight RCTs involving 1972 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled results showed that the risk of SSI was significantly lower with the use of NPWT when compared with standard dressing (RR = 0.68, 95%CI = 0.51-0.90, p = .008). However, there was no difference in overall wound complications (RR = 0.93, 95%CI = 0.74-1.17, p = 0.52) and hospital readmission (RR = 1.03, 95%CI = 0.67-1.60, p = .89) between two groups. Current evidence was not confirmed by trial sequential analysis.

CONCLUSION

On the basis of our findings, NPWT decreases the risk of SSI after cesarean section in obese women after CS, despite this approach does not reduce the overall wound complications and hospital readmission. However, further RCTs are needed to make conclusive evidence.