Wound Infection; Wounds; Dehisence; Cosmesis; Home Care; Length of Hospital Stay Clinical Trial
Official title:
The Use of Prophylactic Negative Wound Therapy in Emergency and Elective Laparotomy Wounds
Post-operative wound issues in abdominal surgery have a significant impact on patient
outcomes. The impact of different types of wound therapy are not clear in the literature.
The hypothesis of this study is that NPWT has the potential to reduce Surgical Site
Infections, however no study has compared the most commonly used products against standard
dressings.
In the era of enhanced recovery, improving modifiable peri-operative and post-operative
factors is essential to better patient outcomes. Surgical site complications in the form of
wound infections are a major burden to the healthcare system. Negative pressure wound therapy
(NPWT) as delivered by a surgical incision management system (SIMS) is a novel approach to
improve wound healing when applied to closed incisions.
However, data is limited in its application to laparotomy incisions in the acute and elective
care surgery setting. Surgical site infections can complicate a patient's post-operative
course significantly, often necessitating a longer length of stay, antibiotic therapy,
intervention for wound collections and impair patient mobility and overall recovery.
In addition to this, laparotomy wound complications can possibly delay adjuvant therapy and
also increases healthcare costs both as an inpatient and in the community. Despite
significant measures to reduce such complications in the form of wound care bundles, changing
of gloves prior to wound closure etc, surgical site complications continue to represent a
huge healthcare burden.
Aim;
1. To determine if prophylactic negative pressure wound therapy confers a lower rate of
Superficial Site Infection or reduces wound complications in Emergency or Elective Laparotomy
wounds thereby improving post-operative patient recovery and reducing healthcare costs.
;