title: Vacuum-assisted closure used for healing chronic wounds and skin grafts in the lower extremities.
abstract: Over the past several years, vacuum-assisted closure has been used as an adjunctive treatment in the management of many chronic and acute wounds. A chart review of chronic wounds in the authors' wound care practice was conducted to ascertain and document the effect of vacuum-assisted closure on the healing of chronic wounds. Over a 30-month period, 70 patients with chronic, nonhealing wounds were treated with vacuum-assisted closure. Of those, 50 had vacuum-assisted closure treatment following skin graft procedures. Using vacuum-assisted closure in addition to a protocol of general supportive and local wound care resulted in a high rate of closure during an average of 48 days. All (100%) of the skin grafts healed. These clinical results suggest that vacuum-assisted closure can be a useful adjunctive treatment in the management of open and grafted wounds and that additional research and documentation are warranted.
authors.affiliation: Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Wound Care Program, 11160 Warner Avenue, Suite 405, Fountain Valley, CA 92708, USA. sncarson@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Stanley N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Carson
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Overall
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee-Jahshan
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Travis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D014618:Vacuum; D014945:Wound Healing; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000628:therapy*