Our Initial Experience of Modified Vaccum Assisted Closure Technique in Complicated Surgical Wounds

Abstract

Aim: To review modified vacuum assisted closure in complicated wounds. Study design: Prospective analysis Setting: Department of Surgery, Avicenna Medical College Background: Managing complex wounds over different areas of body, has always been challenging for surgeons for coverage and reconstruction. Salvaging severely traumatized tissue, which may include exposed tendons, bone, or vital tissue leave limited option for reconstruction. It also has increased risk of infection than other simple wounds. A plausible solution relative to other tedious options is VAC Dressing, which has promising results. Method: This study is a prospective analysis of patients, presenting with complex wounds from January 2017 to January 2018, who were treated in surgical department of Avicenna Hospital Lahore. 24 patients were included in our study. Globally acclaimed apparatus for this purpose is highly expensive therefore we have devised an innovative idea to minimise the cost of this ingenious and effective method for speedy healing. Results: Twenty four patients were included in the study using this modified, innovative method to achieve rapid wound healing. These included infected wounds of various intensities, ranging from infected mesh, exposed tendons and bones to contaminated wounds, Cost of our modified VAC system was less than 10 Us dollars per dressing. VAC was successful in wound management of twenty two patients while it failed in two patients. Conclusion: Modified VAC is an ingenious and affordable method for patients with infected large wounds, which would otherwise require more time, money and resources. This method of VAC dressing in our study has shown good outcome even in the most complicated wounds.