Effectiveness of negative pressure wound therapy as a fixator in split thickness skin graft applied diabetic patients: evaluation of 25 cases

Objective: Microangiopathies expose diabetic patients to lower extremity wounds at certain stages of their lives. Split-thickness skin grafting (STSG) has an important place in the surgical treatment of such wounds. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effects of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) on STSG survival. Methods: A total of 25 diabetic patients (M = 20, F = 5) with acute or chronic lower extremity open wounds were included in the study. All patients underwent wound debridement under regional anesthesia. STSG was applied after wound debridement. NPWT was applied to STSG to increase graft survival. Results: The hospitalization times of the patients ranged from 1 to 2 weeks. The mean follow-up period of the patients was 6 months. All wounds healed on the 14th postoperative day. There was no recurrence in the 6-month follow-up period. Conclusion: We objectively demonstrated the positive effects of NPWT application on STSG and graft survival.