Abstract
BackgroundNegative pressure wound therapy is now largely used to treat infected wounds. The prevention and reduction of healthcare-associated infections is a high priority for any Department of Health and great efforts are spent to improve infection control systems. It is assumed that vacuum-assisted closure (VAC®) dressings should be watertight and that all the secretions are gathered in a single container but there is no consistent data on air leakage and possible dispersion of bacteria from the machine.MethodsWe have conducted a prospective experimental study on 10 patients with diagnosis of wound infection to verify whether the filtration process is microbiologically efficient. We compared the bacteria population present in the wound to the one present in the air discharged by the VAC® machine.ResultsThis study shows that the contamination of the VAC® machine is considerably lower than the environment or wound contamination.ConclusionsNegative pressure wound therapy system does not represent a risk factor for healthcare-associated infections.
Highlights
IntroductionVacuum-assisted closure (VAC®) therapy is a system which promotes open wound healing through the application of negative pressure (negative pressure wound therapy, NPWT) [1,2,3], especially in infected tissues [4,5,6,7]
Vacuum-assisted closure (VAC®) therapy is a system which promotes open wound healing through the application of negative pressure [1,2,3], especially in infected tissues [4,5,6,7]
Gram-positive bacteria were present in the plates derived from all 10 patients and the most represented bacteria were S. hominis (70%), followed by Enterococcus faecalis (30%), S. epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus haemolyticus (20%)
Summary
Vacuum-assisted closure (VAC®) therapy is a system which promotes open wound healing through the application of negative pressure (negative pressure wound therapy, NPWT) [1,2,3], especially in infected tissues [4,5,6,7]. When applying negative pressure onto the bed of the wound, fluid material is removed, formation of granulation tissue is promoted, and wound edge approximation is helped [8]. These mechanisms are effective in promoting the healing process which would be otherwise difficult to treat, leading to economic advantages, but especially to a noticeably improved patients’ health [9]. It is assumed that vacuum-assisted closure (VAC®) dressings should be watertight and that all the secretions are gathered in a single container but there is no consistent data on air leakage and possible dispersion of bacteria from the machine
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