egative Pressure Wound Therapy: The Experience of Our Surgery Department

Abstract

Introduction: The negative pressure wound therapy NPWT is a simple technique using negative pressure which aims to heal different types of wounds in different kinds of surgeries.The purpose of our study is to evaluate the results of this therapy on patients who have had delayed wound healing in cardiac, vascular or thoracic surgery. Methods: It is a retrospective review, from 2009 to 2021, including 31 patients , hospitalized in the thoracic and cardiovascular surgery department of Abderrahman Mami hospital of Ariana Tunisia. Data were collected on patient cardiovascular risk factors, primary diagnosis, intervention, site of the wound, duration of the therapy, number of NPWT dressing implemented, the inflammatory assessment, the microorganism found and the evolution after the NPWT. Results: The mean age was 61 years with a maximum of 78-year-old-patient and minimum of 24 (Range 24 Year Old-78 Year Old) There were 23 male and 8 female patients with the following risk factors and comorbidities: Diabetes (70,59%), Smoking (47,06%), Hypertension (41,17%), Dyslipidemia (29,41%). Five patients presented with mediastinitis after coronary by-pass and five others had an infected scarpa but the bypass was preserved. Ten (10) cases presented with critical limb ischemia and