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NPWT decreases deep infection rate in open tibial fractures
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Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) was more effective at preventing deep infection than conventional dressings when used to manage open tibial fractures, according to recent research.
Investigators treated 220 patients with 229 open tibial fractures between January 2002 and December 2007. Patients treated with NPWT had an 8.4% deep infection rate compared to 20.6% for those treated with conventional dressings, according to results of the retrospective cohort study. After researchers adjusted their multivariate analysis for Gustilo type open fractures — a univariate predictor of deep infection — NPWT use was associated with nearly an 80% decrease in deep infection.
“These results suggest that NPWT reduces the rate of deep infection when used for the dressing of traumatic wounds in open tibial fractures,” the researchers stated in the abstract.
Soft tissue coverage was delayed in the fractures studied, which were treated at two level-1 trauma centers in Australia. Patients received NPWT or conventional dressings at their surgeon’s discretion, according to the abstract.
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