Negative Wound Pressure Therapy
Wound management represents a great burden for the patients’ quality of life and also for the healthcare expenditures. The understanding of the complex cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the healing process enabled the recent development in the field of wound dressing. One of the recent advances in the field is the negative wound pressure therapy. This modern wound dressing consists of a special foam or gauze that fills the entire wound volume and a microprocessor guided pump that controls the wound parameters and exerts negative pressure on the wound. The pump is connected to the wound compartment through a set of draining tubes. Negative pressure wound therapy accelerates the wound healing process. This new method is especially well suited for the treatment of chronic and infected wounds and also acute traumatic wounds with extensive soft tissue damage. Usage of negative pressure wound therapy in the management of acute and chronic wounds has shown to be safe and efficient. It has broad clinical applications and it is economically justified when used optimally.