Negative pressure dressings as an alternative technique for the treatment of infected wounds.

Coverage of wounds caused by infection and subsequent treatment often are variable because of the location of the wound and wound size. Although much research has been done to expand the indications of negative pressure wound treatment systems, little investigation has been done to quantify the reduction of wound size for vacuum-assisted closure treatment in the presence of infection. In this series, 14 patients who had wounds caused by infections were treated with the vacuum-assisted wound closure system. All wounds were greater than 20 cm2. The duration of treatment averaged 10 days (range, 2-27 days), and the initial wound size averaged 70 cm2 (range, 22.5-288 cm2). After the course of treatment, the final wound size averaged 39 cm2 (range, 10-147 cm2). The average wound size reduction was 43%. This method seems to enhance the rapidity of wound reduction, and because it is a closed system of treatment, it has the added benefit of minimizing exposure of staff and other patients to communicable diseases. Vacuum-assisted wound closure systems add another option in the care of musculoskeletal infections.