Background: There are increasing reports of serious complications and deaths associated with negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT). Bleeding may occur when NPWT is applied to a wound with exposed blood vessels. Inserting a rigid disc in the wound may protect these structures. The authors examined the effects of rigid discs on wound bed tissue pressure and blood flow through a large blood vessel in the wound bed during NPWT.
Methods: Wounds were created over the femoral artery in the groin of 8 pigs. Rigid discs were inserted. Wound bed pressures and arterial blood flow were measured during NPWT.
Results: Pressure transduction to the wound bed was similar for control wounds and wounds with discs. Blood flow through the femoral artery decreased in control wounds. When a disc was inserted, the blood flow was restored.
Conclusions: NPWT causes hypoperfusion in the wound bed tissue, presumably as a result of mechanical deformation. The insertion of a rigid barrier alleviates this effect and restores blood flow.