Clinical evaluation of improvised gauze-based negative pressure wound therapy in military wounds

Abstract

The use of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) in civilian and military wounds is found effective in promoting granulation tissue, decreasing exudate and improving patient comfort. The Use of gauze-based NPWT is increasing in civilian trauma cases with availability of proprietary systems using gauze as filler material rather than the traditionally used reticulated open-cell foam. Military trauma wounds differ from civilian trauma wounds in energy of impact, degree and nature of contamination as well as the hostile environments. The Use of gauze as filler material for NPWT in military trauma wounds is less well studied. This study is a retrospective analysis of use of improvised gauze-based NPWT in military trauma wounds. The whole assembly was constructed from commonly available operation theatre supplies and no proprietary system was used. Results were very encouraging and the use of this improvised method can be useful and cheap alternative to costly proprietary systems.

Keywords: Chariker-Jeter system; Military wounds; Negative pressure wound therapy; VAC pack.