A comparative study of the efficacy of topical negative pressure moist dressings and conventional moist dressings in chronic wounds

Aim: To assess the efficacy of topical negative pressure moist wound dressing as compared to conventional moist wound dressings in improving the healing process in chronic wounds and to prove that negative pressure dressings can be used as a much better treatment option in the management of chronic wounds. Materials and Methods: This is a prospective comparative study of data from 112 patients with chronic wounds, of which 56 patients underwent topical negative pressure dressings (17 diabetic, 10 pressure sores, nine ischemic, two varicose, 10 post-infective raw areas and eight traumatic - six had bone exposed, two orthopaedic prosthesis exposed). The remaining 56 patients underwent conventional moist dressings (20 diabetic, two ischemic, 15 pressure sores, three varicose, eight post-infective raw areas and eight traumatic - five had bone exposed, three orthopaedic prosthesis exposed). The results were compared after 10 days. The variables compared were, rate of granulation tissue formation as a percentage of ulcer area covered, skin graft take up as the percentage of ulcer surface area and duration of hospital stay. The variables were compared using Unpaired Student′s t test. A " P" value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Out of 56 patients who underwent topical negative pressure dressings, six (10.71%) were failures, due to failure in maintaining topical negative pressure due to defective sealing technique; these were included into the study group. After 10 days, the mean rate of granulation tissue formation was 71.43% of ulcer surface area. All these 56 cases underwent split-thickness skin grafting. The mean graft take-up was 79.29%. The mean hospital stay was 32.64 days. In the remaining 56 patients, the mean rate of granulation tissue formation was 52.85% of ulcer surface area. The mean graft take-up was only 60.45% of the total ulcer surface area. The mean hospital stay was 60.45 days. Conclusion: To conclude, topical negative pressure dressings help in faster healing of chronic wounds and better graft take-up and reduce hospital stay of these patients