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World Journal of Emergency Surgery
Published in: World Journal of Emergency Surgery 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research article

Vacuum-assisted closure (VAC®) systems and microbiological isolation of infected wounds

Authors: Valerio Cozza, Gilda Pepe, Marco Cintoni, Flavio De Maio, Giuseppe Tropeano, Sabina Magalini, Gabriele Sganga, Giovanni Delogu, Daniele Gui

Published in: World Journal of Emergency Surgery | Issue 1/2018

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Abstract

Background

Negative pressure wound therapy is now largely used to treat infected wounds. The prevention and reduction of healthcare-associated infections is a high priority for any Department of Health and great efforts are spent to improve infection control systems. It is assumed that vacuum-assisted closure (VAC®) dressings should be watertight and that all the secretions are gathered in a single container but there is no consistent data on air leakage and possible dispersion of bacteria from the machine.

Methods

We have conducted a prospective experimental study on 10 patients with diagnosis of wound infection to verify whether the filtration process is microbiologically efficient. We compared the bacteria population present in the wound to the one present in the air discharged by the VAC® machine.

Results

This study shows that the contamination of the VAC® machine is considerably lower than the environment or wound contamination.

Conclusions

Negative pressure wound therapy system does not represent a risk factor for healthcare-associated infections.
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Metadata
Title
Vacuum-assisted closure (VAC®) systems and microbiological isolation of infected wounds
Authors
Valerio Cozza
Gilda Pepe
Marco Cintoni
Flavio De Maio
Giuseppe Tropeano
Sabina Magalini
Gabriele Sganga
Giovanni Delogu
Daniele Gui
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
World Journal of Emergency Surgery / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1749-7922
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13017-018-0216-z

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