The effects of Vacuum-assisted closure therapy system in treating chronic non-healing wounds

Background: The management of difficult to heal wounds has always been a cause of concern for the treating clinicians. The process of cutaneous wound healing is incredibly complex, dependent on an intricate interplay between many highly regulated factors working in concert to restore injured skin towards repaired barrier function. Wound care has become increasingly important given the rise of chronic wounds and the morbidity associated with them. The conventional techniques have been in use for a long time for the management of these wounds, yet desired results are not achieved always. Negative pressure wound therapy, or vacuum-assisted closure, has received a good deal of attention since first being used in the USA in 1997. This present study was therefore designed to study the efficacy of this intervention in treating chronic non-healing wounds. Methods: A Prospective study using a pretest/post-test design was conducted among 21 patients with chronic wound (10 men, 11 women) ages 18 to 65 years. All were subjected to this wound technique and responses were observed as the size of the wound. Results: There was a significant reduction in the size of the wound. The wound length, width, and depth before application of VAC therapy were (12.4±9.41 cm), (8.67±7.68 cm) and (3.21±3.12 cm). These measurements were assessed again post-test (8.31±5.19cm), (4.66±4.38 cm) and 0. Closure was attained in all the subjects after a 6-10 sessions by intervals of 3 days.Conclusions: Negative pressure wound therapy is a promising technique to reduce the size of the wound in chronic wounds. Multiple mechanisms might be responsible for the beneficial results obtained from VAC. Removal of interstitial fluid decreases localized edema and increases blood flow which in turn decreases tissue bacterial levels. It has since been proposed that the application of sub-atmospheric pressure produces mechanical deformation or stress within the tissue resulting in protein and matrix molecule synthesis and enhanced angiogenesis. We concluded that our study provides some evidence to support the use of VAC therapy to accelerate wound healing.

کلیدواژه ها:

Vacum therapy ، Wound healing ، Chronic wound