BACKGROUND: Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is an alternative to the standard gauze dressings for wound treatment. Due to limited health resources, poor electrical supply, and high costs, NPWT in resource-constrained settings is inaccessible. In conflict-affected settings, civilian injuries typically involve traumatic wounds or chronic wound infections that affect the extremities. METHODS: PragmaVAC® is a manually operated NPWT device designed to increase accessibility to NPWT without the need of electrical power. We aimed to determine the clinical efficacy of PragmaVAC through a controlled, non-blinded open-label clinical trial in a resource-constrained locality. The endpoint was formation of granulation tissue sufficient for wound closure. RESULTS: Fifty-nine patients qualified for analysis (19 Gauze; 40 PragmaVAC). The mean age of participants was 49.25 years, 55.9% were male, and 42.4% were diabetic. Forty three wounds (72.9%) were acute, 44 wounds (74.6%) were clean-contaminated, and 34 wounds (57.6%) were localized to the lower limb. The average duration of treatment was 15.3 days in PragmaVAC vs 36.5 days in control, p = 0.013. Similarly, PragmaVAC required fewer number of dressing changes 2.7 vs 23.2 times, p < 0.0001, at a lower frequency of dressings 0.22/day vs 0.73/day, in the control group, p < 0.0001. CONCLUSIONS: PragmaVAC is associated with accelerated healing and less frequent requirement of dressing changes. The introduction of a manually operated, low-cost device in resource-constrained settings presents an opportunity to improve wound care outcomes, decrease interventions, and optimize usage of material and human resources.
BACKGROUND: Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is an alternative to the standard gauze dressings for wound treatment. Due to limited health resources, poor electrical supply, and high costs, NPWT in resource-constrained settings is inaccessible. In conflict-affected settings, civilian injuries typically involve traumatic wounds or chronic wound infections that affect the extremities. METHODS: PragmaVAC® is a manually operated NPWT device designed to increase accessibility to NPWT without the need of electrical power. We aimed to determine the clinical efficacy of PragmaVAC through a controlled, non-blinded open-label clinical trial in a resource-constrained locality. The endpoint was formation of granulation tissue sufficient for wound closure. RESULTS: Fifty-nine patients qualified for analysis (19 Gauze; 40 PragmaVAC). The mean age of participants was 49.25 years, 55.9% were male, and 42.4% were diabetic. Forty three wounds (72.9%) were acute, 44 wounds (74.6%) were clean-contaminated, and 34 wounds (57.6%) were localized to the lower limb. The average duration of treatment was 15.3 days in PragmaVAC vs 36.5 days in control, p = 0.013. Similarly, PragmaVAC required fewer number of dressing changes 2.7 vs 23.2 times, p < 0.0001, at a lower frequency of dressings 0.22/day vs 0.73/day, in the control group, p < 0.0001. CONCLUSIONS: PragmaVAC is associated with accelerated healing and less frequent requirement of dressing changes. The introduction of a manually operated, low-cost device in resource-constrained settings presents an opportunity to improve wound care outcomes, decrease interventions, and optimize usage of material and human resources.
Authors: S Vig; C Dowsett; L Berg; C Caravaggi; P Rome; H Birke-Sorensen; A Bruhin; M Chariker; M Depoorter; R Dunn; F Duteille; F Ferreira; J M Francos Martínez; G Grudzien; D Hudson; S Ichioka; R Ingemansson; S Jeffery; E Krug; C Lee; M Malmsjo; N Runkel; R Martin; J Smith Journal: J Tissue Viability Date: 2011-11-25 Impact factor: 2.932
Authors: E Krug; L Berg; C Lee; D Hudson; H Birke-Sorensen; M Depoorter; R Dunn; S Jeffery; F Duteille; A Bruhin; C Caravaggi; M Chariker; C Dowsett; F Ferreira; J M Francos Martínez; G Grudzien; S Ichioka; R Ingemansson; M Malmsjo; P Rome; S Vig; N Runkel; R Martin; J Smith Journal: Injury Date: 2011-02 Impact factor: 2.586
Authors: Yvonne Zens; Michael Barth; Heiner C Bucher; Katrin Dreck; Moritz Felsch; Wolfram Groß; Thomas Jaschinski; Heike Kölsch; Mandy Kromp; Inga Overesch; Stefan Sauerland; Sven Gregor Journal: Syst Rev Date: 2020-10-10