Publication details
NPWT: USE, BUT NOT ABUSE!
| Title in English | 6th CONGRESS OF WUWHS - WORLD UNION OF WOUND HEALING SOCIETES |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | In wound management, the amount of exudate needs to be regulated by means of an appropriate wound dressing to prevent skin maceration while, at the same time, it is necessary to maintain sufficient moisture in wound as it unequivocally speeds up the wound healing process. In case of excessive volume of exudate, application of NPWT is appropriate. Methods: Retrospective analysis of patients treated by NPWT, evaluation of length of NPWT therapy, amount of exudate in individual diagnoses and comparison of our results with studies. Results: Within our group we assessed 381 patients treated by means of NPWT with the average age of 62.93 years. The average number of dressing changes per one patient reached 3.88 and the average length of treatment was 16.94 days. Age of the patients had no impact on the length of the NPWT therapy. The highest volume of exudate occurred in 110 patients treated with open abdomen with average volume of 3,026 ml per case, the average length of treatment was only 15.68 days while 20% patients with OA died. In case of patients with open fractures and injuries with loss of the soft tissue with defects of upper and lower limbs, the average time of treatment reached 19.7 days. The average volume of exudate was 84.6 ml per case. In spite of this, healing of fractures following the NPWT treatment was affected in a negative way. Conclusion: NPWT represents an excellent method in wound treatment. We need to have in mind though, that the treatment must be performed rationally for only necessary period of time in order to prevent undesirable loss of proteins and blood cells. |