Abstract

ORTEGA-LEON, Luis Humberto et al. Use of negative pressure for the treatment of complicated wounds: Report of six cases. Cir. gen [online]. 2011, vol.33, n.2, pp.115-120. ISSN 1405-0099.

Objective: To know the usefulness of a therapy system based on negative pressure topically applied on a complicated surgical wound. Setting: General Surgery Service, third level health care hospital. Design: Pilot study, prospective, longitudinal and descriptive. Statistical analysis: Central tendency measures. Patients and methods: We present six post-operated patients with open complicated surgical wounds. All with infection demonstrated by culture and output of purulent material: three patients with open abdomen due to abdominal sepsis, one with post-traumatic thoracic injury, one with an supracondyle infected stump, and the last with complicated surgical wound due to dermolipectomy, all of them with treatments of the surgical wound before applying negative pressure. We included consecutive patients coursing with complicated infected wounds, prolonged in-hospital stay, and who did not improve with traditional medical treatment. Results: The time of negative pressure application for the six patients ranged from 6 to 26 days, with satisfactory evolution, obtaining the expected improvement of the surgical wound and the abdominal cavity. In the three patients with open abdomen and previous treatment with Bogota pouch, the abdominal cavity could be closed between 14 and 26 days of negative pressure treatment; in the other three patients with more superficial wounds, closure of the wound was achieved between the 6^th and 14^th day. All patients were followed for more than 5 months, the wound remained closed and without any alterations. Conclusion: Negative pressure therapy was useful in the treatment of patients with complicated surgical wounds and/or treatment of open abdomen substituting the Bogota pouch. Of the 100% of in-hospital stay days, 30% corresponded to topically applied negative pressure therapy.

Keywords : Negative pressure; complicated surgical wound; surgical wounds treatment; Bogota pouch.