Less Frequent Dressing Changes With Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Reduces Injured Children’s Pain and Fear

  Abstract: Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has become an accepted method to assist in optimizing the management of wounds. It can decrease the frequency of dressing changes, which reduces pain and fear in pediatric patients. An 8-year-girl with lower extremity avulsion injuries underwent debridement and received NPWT for 17 days. The dressing foam was changed only twice during NPWT. Secondary skin grafting was performed 24 days later, and the wound was resurfaced 35 days after injury. Negative pressure wound therapy reduces the frequency of required dressing changes, even while the wound releases massive exudate, which reduces pain and brings comfort to injured children.

Introduction

  Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) for open injury has recently gained popularity among various surgical specialties.^1–3 This system is based on the application of negative pressure by controlled suction to the wound surface. The effectiveness of NPWT to promote microcirculation and granulation tissue proliferation has been verified. Thus, it has allowed uncomplicated wounds to heal quickly.⁴ While NPWT has been shown to be useful in a variety of situations, one unique potential benefit in children is that it promotes the removal of excessive discharge through a suction tube, which keeps the wound surface clean and consequently decreases the requirement of dressing changes.   The authors present a case of a child with a severe leg degloving injury who underwent successful NPWT with reduced pain.

Case Report

  An 8-year-old girl sustained a detrition injury to the right leg after she was run over by a truck. The patient had extensive soft tissue injury to the entire right foot, except the heel, and sustained a laceration to the right leg. All of the toes had been amputated, and the extensor tendons and metacarpal bones were exposed (Figure 1A, B). She underwent immediate debridement under general anesthesia. The degloved skin of sole and dorsal pedis was removed and then returned to the wound as a free skin graft after cleansing. The lower leg wound had no skin defect; however, the muscles were damaged severely. Thus, the wound of the lower leg was left open and covered with an artificial dermis (Teruderermis®, Orimpas-Terumo Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) instead of direct closure, in order to prevent compartment syndrome. Negative pressure wound therapy was applied as the postsurgical wound dressing for 17 days instead of the usual ointment-impregnated gauze. Polyurethane foam and a drainage tube were adapted to fit the wound and were sealed with a transparent film. The tube was connected to a vacuum source, which was used to generate subatmospheric pressure (125 mmHg) in the local wound environment (Figure 2). Significant wound discharge was noted over the first 10 days and was drained through the suction tube. Consequently, the foam dressing was changed only twice during NPWT treatment. The wounds of the instep and heel were favorably covered with grafted skin 2 weeks later without infection, and the lower leg wound showed favorable granulation tissue growth (Figure 3). Secondary split-thickness skin grafting for the remaining raw surface was performed 24 days after injury. The wound was resurfaced 35 days after injury, and the patient was able to walk without a cane 2 months after free skin grafting (Figures 4A, B).

Discussion

  Wound bed preparation (WBP) is an essential element of wound management that promotes endogenous healing, as well as the efficacy of topical and other wound therapies.⁵ The concept of WBP offers a systematic approach to overcome barriers to healing, such as tissue infection/inflammation, moisture, and edges, and enhances the effects of advanced therapies.^6,7 Among these unfavorable factors, control of moisture balance is the most important and difficult problem because fresh, severe wounds present with massive discharge and bleeding. Usually, local wound management inflicts significant pain and distress on patients. This distress might lead patients, especially children, to assume an aggressive attitude. Consequently, it is difficult to improve quality of life for these patients under these circumstances. For such patients, reducing the frequency of painful dressing changes is a reasonable option, when possible.   Negative pressure wound therapy is a technique used to promote the healing of acute or chronic wounds.⁸ An NPWT system is emerging as an acceptable option in patients with wounds of the foot, ankle, and lower limb.⁹ The drainage tube is connected to a vacuum source, turning an open wound into a controlled, closed wound, while removing excess fluid from the wound bed.¹⁰ The foam dressing is usually changed every 48 hours; however, this varies depending on the presence of signs of infection, including erythema or skin discoloration, edema, warmth, induration, increased pain, purulent wound exudate, elevated temperature, and elevated white blood cell count.^11,12 The US Food and Drug Administration recommends that the dressings be changed often (2–3 times per week) when Vacuum-Assisted Closure (V.A.C. ATS®, KCI Inc., San Antonio, TX) is used.¹³ Thus, it is better to use an off-label device when longer duration, continuous NPWT is performed. Careful inspection of the wound site and the clinical monitoring of patients’ conditions allow the clinician to prolong the interval between dressing changes. It is the authors’ opinion that, at most, 1 week of continuous NPWT without a dressing change is acceptable if no infectious signs develop. Longer duration, continuous NPWT without changing the foam may cause the granulation tissue to grow into the foam (ingrowth), which results in bleeding and pain when the foam is removed. In the present case, the patient’s foot wounds were covered with free skin grafts using the degloved skin, and the leg wound was covered with an artificial dermis, which was composed of silicon membrane and atelocollagen. Thus, the overlaying foam did not contact the wound directly. Furthermore, the authors chose to use nonadherent polyurethane foam to avoid tissue ingrowth that can occur with the normal NPWT foam. The authors believe that some devices, such as a nonadherent foam dressing or silicon film, are indispensable for reducing the pain patients often experience during a dressing change while undergoing longer-duration, continuous NPWT.   Negative pressure wound therapy is also effective for preparing the wound bed for closure via skin graft and affixing the grafted skin after surgery.^14–16 In both cases, NPWT reduces the frequency of dressing changes, which leads to reduced pain and added comfort to injured children.

Conclusion

  This report presented a child with a severe leg degloving injury who underwent successful NPWT with reduced pain. The authors recommend NPWT as the first choice for injured children because it brings much comfort to them.

Acknowledgements

  Ethical considerations. The procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of our institutional committee on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 1983.   Financial disclosure. The authors herewith certify that: we have no financial, academic, or personal relationships with any companies that produce or market products or services relevant to the topic of this manuscript.

References

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