Association of vacuum-assisted closure and platelet gel for the definitive surgical repair of an enterocutaneous fistula: a case report.
BACKGROUND
Regenerative surgery deals with damaged tissue via endogenous cell activation or through autologous cell implantation. Several clinical applications employing cell infusions, platelet gel (PG), or both, are currently applied in cases in which no other therapy is application. The vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) system is a non invasive device used in the management of complicated wounds, which creates sub-atmospheric pressure promoting the wound healing process.


METHODS
We describe the case of a 75-year-old woman who underwent several surgical interventions and presented a non-healing ileo-cutaneous fistula. All standard procedures in order to treat the trauma failed, so a treatment associating VAC and PG was performed.


CONCLUSIONS
VAC and PG represent promising opportunities for the treatment of difficult wounds. In this case, the association of regenerative medicine using homologous PG to the VAC therapy was employed in order to enhance the effect of both techniques on tissue repair.
Division of Surgical Oncology, National Institute of Cancer Research (IST), Genova, Italy. marco.scala@hotmail.it
Marco
M
Scala
Francesco
F
Spagnolo
Maria
M
Trapasso
Paolo
P
Strada
Luciano
L
Moresco
Pierluigi
P
Santi
D000368:Aged; D001792:Blood Platelets; D005260:Female; D005782:Gels; D006801:Humans; D007412:Intestinal Fistula / Q000601:surgery*; D054843:Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D053657:Platelet-Rich Plasma; D014945:Wound Healing
D005782:Gels