Effectiveness of Negative Pressure Wound Therapy in Managing Post-Surgical Wounds

In the treatment of surgical and chronic wounds, Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) has become a popular technique. There are various researches available which aim to study its efficacy and clinical outcome. However, different study designs and contrasting results call for a thorough and comprehensive study which analyzes various reports and compares them to reach a solid conclusion. The goal of this study is to evaluate NPWT's efficacy in various surgical and chronic wound settings in comparison to traditional wound therapies. Systematic review of 11 studies with a total of over 24,000 participants were included in this meta-analysis. Wound healing rates, infection control, wound size reduction, granulation formation, and patient satisfaction were among the outcomes evaluated. The I2 statistic was used to quantify heterogeneity. Models with random effects were used. NPWT decreased granulation time, decreased surgical site infections (pooled RR ≈ 0.64, 95% CI: 0.52–0.80), and significantly increased wound healing rates (pooled OR ≈ 1.52, 95% CI: 1.21–1.92). There was a lot of heterogeneity (I2 = 67%). Sensitivity analyses verified that the results were stable. When compared to traditional therapies, NPWT provides better wound management results. Significant heterogeneity, however, emphasizes the necessity of standardized clinical applications.