Ulceration of pyoderma gangrenosum treated with negative pressure wound therapy

The role of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) on the treatment of pyoderma gangrenosum: A systematic review and personal experience

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare painful ulcerative neutrophilic inflammatory skin disease, necessitating a high level of diagnostic suspicion associated with appropriate treatment to avoid progression. Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has been efficiently used in the treatment of different types of wounds. However, the role of NPWT in the management of PG is still controversial, due to the risk of the pathergy phenomenon. In this article, we conducted a systematic review (according to the PRISMA guidelines) on the use of NPWT in the treatment of PG, and we report our personal experience with two patients treated with this device. The result of the review showed that articles on the topic are, in their entirety, of low levels of evidence, such as case series, case reports, and reviews. Improvement in wound healing with the use of NPWT was observed in 85.1% of the patients studied. Besides, a significant association between improvement in wound healing with NPWT and immunosuppressive therapy was observed. Regarding the cases reported here, both showed good outcomes with the use of NPWT and skin graft during the treatment of PG injuries. Due to the rarity of PG, there is a scarcity of studies with robust evidence for standardization and comparison between treatments, which consequently makes it difficult to select therapeutic options. However, based on this systematic review and reported cases, we consider NPWT a safe option for adjuvant treatment of wounds caused by PG if combined with systemic immunosuppression, which plays a key role in greater chances of successful treatment. This approach should be recommended, whenever possible, associated with skin grafting to accelerate wound closure. The role of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) on the treatment of pyoderma gangrenosum: a systematic review and personal experience.

Surgical Treatment of Pyoderma Gangrenosum with Negative Pressure Wound Therapy and Skin Grafting, Including Xenografts: Personal Experience and Comprehensive Review on 161 Cases

Significance: Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare debilitating autoinflammatory ulcerative skin disease. No gold standard has been established for the treatment of PG. The role of surgical interventions and negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) was discussed controversially until recently as these procedures might pose a trigger to further aggravate the condition. Recent Advances: Recent advances confirm the paradigm change that a surgical approach of PG with split thickness skin grafting (STSG) secured by NPWT is a safe and valuable treatment if performed under adequate immunosuppression. We elaborate this on the hand of a broad literature search retrieving 101 relevant articles describing 138 patients complemented with our personal experience on 23 patients, including 2 patients treated with a porcine xenodressing. Critical Issues: A wide range of surgical approaches have been reported, including xenografts. Treatment was finally successful in 86%, including the xenotransplant cases. Ten percent improved and failures were mainly reported without immunosuppression. Despite halting the inflammatory process, NPWT alone, without skin grafting, does not much accelerate healing time. The best surgical approach appears to be STSG fixed with NPWT as this leads to higher skin graft take. There remains the problem of the chronic nature of PG and the recurrence after tapering of immunosuppression or trauma; therefore, a sustained immunosuppressive treatment is suggested. Future Directions: While surgical treatment is supported by the published data, the exact immunosuppression is still evolving. Due to deeper insights into pathogenesis and growing clinical reports, a broader utilization of biologic treatments and a shift from tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha to interleukin (IL)-12/23 or IL-23 antibodies alone are predictable, as IL-12/23 antibodies show good clinical responses with fewer side effects. The positive results with porcine xenodressings might be due to immunological effects of the xenomaterial; they appear promising, but are preliminary and should be confirmed in a larger patient collective.

Extensive Refractory Perineal Pyoderma Gangrenosum Treated with Infliximab, Fecal Diversion, and Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy

Background

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare and difficult-to-diagnose disease that often associates with inflammatory bowel disease.

Case

We present a case of a 57-year-old female with ulcerative colitis receiving 5-ASA who presented with rapidly progressive ulcers in the right foot and on the inside of the thigh, extending from the left large vaginal lip to the perianal area, compatible with PG. She was initially treated with corticosteroids with no response. After multidisciplinary consultation, it was decided to initiate in-fliximab 5 mg/kg, and to perform ileostomy for fecal diversion and negative-pressure wound therapy. The patient presented with marked improvement of the lesions, being discharged after 2 months and demonstrating almost complete resolution of the lesions within 4 months.

Conclusion

Due to the rarity of PG, there is no evidence of the optimal management. The role of surgery is controversial as PG lesions can demonstrate pathergy and theoretically could worsen with surgical intervention. In this case it was decided based on the extent of the lesions and the experience in other septic/ulcerative perianal conditions.

Pyoderma gangrenosum after orthopaedic or traumatologic surgery: a systematic revue of the literature

INTRODUCTION

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a neutrophilic dermatosis characterised by a painful ulceration mimicking infection of the operative site. To this day, there is still no general agreement on the medical and surgical treatment of PG. This systematic review of the literature aims to summarise recent studies about post-operative PG in orthopaedic surgery to improve its medical and surgical management.

METHOD

In April 2017, we carried out an exhaustive review of the literature in MEDLINE, PubMed and Cochrane databases. Key words were pyoderma gangrenosum, orthopaedic surgery, and surgical wound infection. We identified 183 articles. After excluding articles reporting idiopathic PG, cases secondary to non-orthopaedic surgery, and cases about other subtypes of dermatosis, 30 studies were identified. We only included articles reporting PG after orthopaedic or trauma surgery.

RESULTS

Thirty-one cases of PG have been reported, 58% (18) of which were in women, whose mean age was 56.5 years. Clinical signs were constant, the most frequently affected site was lower limbs [77.4% (24)] and delay of symptom onset was two to 17 days. Systemic corticosteroid therapy was systematic, polyvalent immunoglobulins were used in two cases and immunosuppressive drugs in one. Negative pressure therapy was used in seven cases and hyperbaric oxygen in three.

DISCUSSION

Delayed diagnosis leads to one or more surgical revisions, which could have been avoided by using early and adapted medical treatment. Early onset of a painful and infected ulcer at the operating site in a patient at risk of PG is an indicator that dermatologist advice is recommended before surgical debridement. Surgical revision, outside the inflammatory phase and/or covered by a systemic corticosteroid therapy, does not lead to PG relapse.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

IV: Systematic revue of the literature.

Behçet's ulcerations in the lower extremity: A case report

Behçet's Disease is a syndrome characterized by recurrent, painful oral aphthous ulcers, in conjunction with 2 or more systemic manifestations - a common systemic manifestation of the disease being cutaneous lesions, which often present as papules that ulcerate to form ulcerations which exhibit the same pathergy phenomenon as pyoderma gangrenosum and are thus difficult to heal. We present a case of a type 2 diabetic male with previously undiagnosed Behçet's Disease who presented to clinic with an atypical lower extremity wound. Due to the atypical nature of the patient's wound, combined with information from the patient regarding the history of the wound and other illnesses he had, the wound was biopsied and the results from the biopsy combined with clinical suspicion yielded a diagnosis of Behçet's Disease. After understanding the nature of the wound, management of the ulceration was adjusted appropriately so as to properly treat the patient with both local wound care and medical management for the disease. Patient was referred to rheumatology for further workup and long-term management of Behçet's Disease. Correct identification and treatment of the systemic disease, as well as the lower extremity ulcerations, in patients with Behçet's Disease are critical to avoid organ and limb-threatening complications. Had the diagnosis of Behçet's not been made in this case, the patient's wound would have been at increased risk of disease-related complications - ranging from non-healing ulceration leading to amputation to renal failure to loss of eyesight.

The development and future of reconstructive and microvascular surgery of the hand

The hand is often thought of as a key discriminator in what makes humans human. The hand is both intricate and fascinating in its design and function, allowing humans to interact with their surroundings, and each other. Due to its use in manipulation of the person’s environment, injury to the hand is common.

Devastating hand injuries have a profound, physical, psychological, financial and socially crippling effect on patients.

Advances in operative techniques and improvements in microscopes and instruments allowed Malt &McKhann to perform the first successful arm replantation in 1962 [1].

This was followed by a myriad of autologous free flaps of varying composition, that were discovered after the mapping of the cutaneous blood circulation by Taylor and Palmer [2] and Mathes & Nahai’s classification of muscle flaps [3] providing us with countless options to harvest and transfer healthy, well vascularised tissues into areas of injury.

Since the late sixties, with the emerging subspecialty of microvascular reconstruction, surgeons have had the technical ability to salvage many amputated parts, even entire limbs.

The measure of functional outcomemust incorporate the evaluation and severity ofthe initial injury and the subsequent reconstructive surgeries [4].

Topical negative pressure therapy: current concepts and practice

Research into topical negative pressure therapy (TNPT) started in 1989 with Dr Louis Argenta and Prof Michael Morykwas of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina, USA. In 1997, Morykwas and Argenta concluded that TNPT both enhanced granulation tissue formation and helped bacterial clearance, through the actions of negative pressure Armstrong and Lavery confirmed this in 2005, concluding that TNPT therapy was promoting the development of granulation tissue. Numerous other studies have proved that TNPT is beneficial for a myriad of other wounds including: sternotomy wounds, extensive de-gloving injuries, various soft tissue injuries prior to surgical closure, skin grafting, pressure sores, leg ulcers, sacral pressure ulcers, acute traumatic soft tissue defects, and soft tissue defects following rigid stabilisation of lower extremity fractures. This review aims to summarise the clinical and scientific concepts of TNPT and its future applications.

An overview of negative pressure wound therapy for the lower extremity

Since its introduction into the market, negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), also known as topical negative pressure, has become an important adjuvant therapy for the treatment of many types of wounds. Surgeons and physicians of all subspecialties have adopted NPWT into their practices. NPWT has become a mainstay in the management of lower extremity soft tissue pathology, especially in patients with traumatic, diabetic, postsurgical, and peripheral vascular disease-associated wounds. This article reviews the background, currently understood mechanisms of action, applications, contraindications, reported complications, advantages, criticisms, and techniques in the lower extremity.