Effective debridement with micro water jet technology (MWT): A retrospective clinical application observation of 90 patients with acute and chronic wounds

Objective

This retrospective clinical application observation study shall demonstrate the effect of a wound debridement using micro water jet technology (MWT) as an efficient method promoting wound healing. The final goal is to accomplish a decrease in wound size (reepithelization) due to debridement with MWT. Through the application of MWT, the wound shall receive a healing stimulus. Besides the use of MWT, there are other water-based cleaning/rinsing systems available.

Method

From two wound care centers (Kantonsspital Obwalden, Spital Lachen), all data from patients treated with MWT and different types of wound, over a time period of 3 years, were retrospectively analyzed. All patients, except one, could be treated in an outpatient setting. Fewest of the patients did receive a local anesthetic. Included were all patients, independent from gender and age.

Results

The retrospective data analysis was carried out on 90 patients (46 m/44 f) with an average age of 68.5 years (17/93 years) and a total of 95 different wounds. 58 wounds were completely closed at exit from the wound care center within a median treatment time of 59 days (8.4 weeks). The average treatment time for all 95 wounds was 39 days (5.6 weeks) per wound at the end of debridement, the average wound size 6.1 cm². The reduction of healing time compared to traditional methods was approximately 30%.

Conclusion

The result of the retrospective data analysis on patients with predominantly chronic and persistent wounds shows that debriding with micro water jet technology is an efficient, tissue-preserving, precise and time-saving method for outpatient wound care – with excellent healing outcomes. Patient safety was high and we have seen no adverse effects. The MWT is comparable to other water jet-based cleaning/rinsing systems.