Primary Use of Negative Pressure Dressings in Lower Extremity Distal Bypass Wounds

Abstract

Introduction: Wound complications of leg wounds occur in up to 44% of patients after femoral distal bypass surgery. There are technical difficulties in obtaining primary wound closure especially on the anterior tibial wound,particularly in the setting of critical limb ischaemia and oedema. Technical summary: Primary use of negative pressure dressings in this situation has not been described.We describe a case report and a technique which will help obtain safe wound closure without compromising graft integrity by tunnelling the graft obliquely under the tibialis anterior muscle and then applying primary PicoTM dressing. Conclusion: By avoiding tension on fragile oedematous tissue safe wound closure may be obtained. Consent: Informed patient consent was obtained for the treatment as well as for the publication of the photograph