title: Closed-incision negative-pressure therapy in high-risk general surgery patients following laparotomy: a retrospective study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Surgical site infection (SSI) and wound dehiscence are dreaded complications following laparotomy in general surgical patients, and can potentially occur more often in various comorbid states. Negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has a positive effect of on open and complicated wounds and so has been used for at-risk surgical incisions with the aim of redistributing lateral tension and holding incision edges together. The aim of the present study was to compare the rate of wound complications following laparotomy in high-risk general surgical patients with a clean incision treated with closed-incision negative-pressure therapy (ciNPT) with those receiving conventional care.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective review was performed of the hospital medical records of patients who underwent laparotomy between 1 October 2010 and 31 March 2012. Records of 69 patients who received ciNPT and 112 who were managed by adherent gauze dressings were included in the final analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two (2.9%) patients in the ciNPT group and 23 (20.5%) in the non-NPWT group developed a wound complication following laparotomy (P < 0.0009). The relative risk (RR) was 0.14 (0.03-0.58), suggesting that infection is less likely to occur in ciNPT-treated incisions, compared with gauze dressings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ciNPT was associated with a positive clinical outcome and was a safe and effective method of postsurgical management in our general surgery patients considered to have risk of developing wound complications following laparotomy.
authors.affiliation: Surgery, North Tees and Hartlepool NHSFT, Stockton on Tees, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zaidi
authors.affiliation: Surgery, Our Lady Of Lourdes, Drogheda, Louth, Ireland.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: El-Masry
mesh_terms: D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D004630:Emergencies; D006801:Humans; D007813:Laparotomy / Q000379:methods*; D054843:Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D013529:Surgical Wound Dehiscence / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000453:epidemiology*; D058106:Wound Closure Techniques
keywords: Closed incision; general surgery; high risk; laparotomy; negative-pressure therapy