title: Negative pressure wound therapy and external fixation device: a simple way to seal the dressing.
abstract: Negative pressure therapy is widely applied to treat lower limb trauma. However, sealing a negative pressure dressing in the presence of an external fixation device may be difficult and time consuming. Therefore, screws, pins, wires, etc, may preclude the vacuum, preventing the plastic drape to perfectly adhere to the foam. To maintain the vacuum, we tried to prevent air leaking around the screws putting bone wax at the junction between the pins and the plastic drape. This solution, in our hands, avoids air leakage and helps maintain vacuum in a fast and inexpensive way.
authors.affiliation: *Plastic Surgery Unit, Department of Surgery, Microsurgery and Medical Sciences, University Hospital Trust, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy; †Human Anatomy, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University Hospital Trust, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy; ‡Service d'orthopédie-traumatologie, CHU Pointe-à-Pitre, Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, France; and §François-Xavier Michelet Center, CHU de Bordeaux, Place Amélie Raba-Léon, Bordeaux Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bulla
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Farace
authors.forename: André-Pierre
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Uzel
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Casoli
mesh_terms: D016267:External Fixators; D005121:Extremities / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D054843:Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy; D010168:Palmitates / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014885:Waxes
chemical_list: D010168:Palmitates; D014885:Waxes; C055480:bone wax