Knowledge of Using Vacuums in the Treatment of Resistance Diabetic Foot Ulcers among Medical Students at King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Negative pressure therapy is used in diabetic foot cases to be healing of diabetic foot wounds by suctioning and vacuuming negative partial air from the wound, which helps in the formation and promotion of new tissues that are healthy and rich in capillaries. The aim of the study is to assess medical students’ knowledge about using negative pressure therapy in healing resistance diabetic foot wounds and ulcers. This is a cross-sectional study, depending on the online questionnaire that was used for data collection using social media platforms. 63.2% of participants answered “for 1-3 weeks” or “for 3-6 weeks” when they asked what is the duration of negative pressure wound therapy, while those who answered “for 6-9 weeks” were 29.4%, and about 7.5% answered “for 9-12 weeks.” About 43.5% of the participants only heard about the vacuum treatment. Also, only 23.6% of the participants had seen the negative pressure wound therapy instrument, and the remaining 76.4% did not see it. when asked about thinking that negative pressure wound therapy impacted the quality of patient care, about 54.5% of the participants indicated that it impacted the better quality of care, and only 9.5% indicated that it is the same quality of care, while about 30.8% of them indicated that it impacted relative better but highly expensive, and only 5.2% indicated that it is the worse quality of care. Medical students need to be aware of negative pressure therapy to take care of the well-being of resistance wounds of diabetic patients.