A meta-analysis examining the effects of traditional therapy versus negative-pressure therapy on wound infection and graft take rates in skin with split thickness after grafting surgery

Backgrounds The purpose of the meta-analysis was to evaluate and compare the effects of negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) with conventional therapy (CT) on wound infection and graft take rates in split-thickness skin (STS) after grafting surgery (GS). Methods The results of this meta-analysis were analyzed, and the odds ratio (OR) and mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using dichotomous or contentious random or fixed effect models. For the current meta-analysis, 16 examinations spanning from 2002 to 2023 were included, encompassing 1301 people with STSs after GS. Results NPWT had a significantly lower wound infection (OR, 0.29; 95% CI, 0.17-0.48, p<0.001), and higher graft take rate (MD, 8.70; 95% CI, 5.76-11.63, p<0.001) compared to CT in STSs after GS subjects. Conclusions The examined data revealed that NPWT had a significantly lower wound infection and a higher graft take rates compared to CT in STSs after GS subjects. However, given that several examinations had a small sample size, consideration should be given to their values.