Single use negative-pressure wound therapy compared to standard care in patients after carbon dioxide laser surgery for hidradenitis suppurativa

Abstract

Negative pressure wound therapy is a commonly used treatment modality for surgi-cal wounds healing by secondary intention. In an open, split side study with12 patients, we compared low negative pressure wound therapy to conventionalfoam dressing the first postoperative week after carbon dioxide laser vaporization ofhidradenitis suppurativa lesions. The primary outcome was time to complete woundhealing, comparing the two intervention sites. Secondary endpoints included percep-tion of pain during intervention period and patient registered impact of the regimeson daily life activities. Low negative pressure wound therapy the first postoperativeweek tended to reduce the time to complete wound healing. Patients reported signif-icant lower pain levels from wounds treated with a negative pressure wound devicethe first postoperative week. Eleven out of 12 study participants had a preference tothe negative pressure wound therapy regime to a conventional regime with foamdressings.