V.A.C. Therapy in the management of paediatric wounds: clinical review and experience

Usage of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) in the management of acute and chronic wounds has grown exponentially in the past decade. Hundreds of studies have been published regarding outcomes and methods of therapy used for adult wounds. This treatment is increasingly being used to manage difficult-to-treat paediatric wounds arising from congenital defects, trauma, infection, tumour, burns, pressure ulceration and postsurgical complications in children, although relatively few studies have been aimed at this population. Given the anatomical and physiological differences between adults and children, a multidisciplinary expert advisory panel was convened to determine appropriate use of NPWT with reticulated open cell foam (NPWT/ROCF) as delivered by Vacuum Assisted Closure (V.A.C. Therapy, KCI Licensing, Inc., San Antonio, TX) for the treatment of paediatric wounds. The primary objectives of the expert advisory panel were to exchange state-of-practice information on paediatric wound care, review the published data regarding the use of NPWT/ROCF in paediatric wounds, evaluate the strength of the existing data and establish guidelines on best practices with NPWT/ROCF for the paediatric population. The proposed paediatrics-specific clinical practice guidelines are meant to provide practitioners an evidence base from which decisions could be made regarding the safe and efficacious selection of pressure settings, foam type, dressing change frequency and use of interposing contact layer selections. The guidelines reflect the state of knowledge on effective and appropriate wound care at the time of publication. They are the result of consensus reached by expert advisory panel members based on their individual clinical and published experiences related to the use of NPWT/ROCF in treating paediatric wounds. Best practices are described herein for novice and advanced users of NPWT/ROCF. Recommendations by the expert panel may not be appropriate for use in all circumstances. Decisions to adopt any particular recommendation must be made by the collaborating medical team, including the surgeon and wound care specialist based on available resources, individual patient circumstances and experience with the V.A.C. Therapy System.