Impact of negative pressure wound therapy on inflammatory cell counts in porcine deep dermal burn wound models

Background

The inflammatory phase of acute burns can last for 7 days. Meanwhile, severe burns may exhibit persistent inflammation long after the initial tissue damage. Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is recommended to treat various lesions, including burns. This study aimed to compare the number of inflammatory cells on days 3, 14, and 21 in deep dermal burns treated with two different therapies.

Methods

This experimental study was conducted at the Prof. Soeparwi Veterinary Hospital, Yogyakarta, from February to September 2022. A total of 36 wounds created in 10-kg Yorkshire pig burn models were subjected to one of the following treatments: 0.9% sodium chloride or NPWT. These wounds were then sampled as paraffin blocks for microscopic inflammatory cell counts by an anatomical pathology specialist. Comparative analyses of lymphocytes, neutrophils, and plasma cells were performed using IBM SPSS version 22 for Windows.

Results

A significant difference was found only in neutrophil counts on day 3 (5.30 ​± ​5.41), day 14 (42.83 ± 38.58), and day 21 (9.80 ​± ​8.97) (P=0.009), with notable changes from day 3 to day 14 (37.53 ​± ​40.51; P=0.043) and day 14 to day 21 (−33.03 ​± ​42.79; P=0.049). Meanwhile, no significant differences were found in either lymphocytes or plasma cells between days in either treatment group.

Conclusion

NPWT effectively reduced neutrophil counts on day 21 of treatment, indicating its beneficial effects in preventing prolonged inflammation during wound healing. This demonstrates its potential as an alternative dressing therapy for deep dermal burn injuries.