VAC® therapy for wound management in patients with contraindications to surgical treatment

Abstract

The treatment of complex wounds often requires multiple surgical debridement and eventually reconstruction with skin grafts or flaps, under local or general anesthesia. When the patient's general conditions contraindicate surgical procedures, topical negative pressure with vacuum assisted closure (VAC)) device can achieve wound healing with reduction of healing time and simpler management. We treated with VAC device four patients with complex wounds and important contraindications to surgery. In all the patients, we used VAC device with common protocol of topical negative pressure. The healing was obtained in a period variable between 18 and 40 days; the results were satisfactory in three cases, one patient developed an aesthetically unpleasant scar. We present our experience to propose VAC when surgical procedures are contraindicated.