Negative pressure therapy in reducing groin infection following vascular surgery

Abstract

Overview of the topic: Surgical-site infection (SSI) in groin incisions following vascular surgery is a common complication and burden for both patients and healthcare systems. Despite standard dressing being an efficacious treatment, negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is a notable prophylactic alternative for preventing infection. In this dissertation, the effect of NPWT for reducing groin infection will be studied. The research question: Does negative pressure therapy reduce the incidence of groin infection following vascular surgery? PICO elements: The population (P) comprised of patients undergoing vascular surgery. The intervention (I) was negative pressure wound therapy and the comparison (C) was standard dressings. The desired outcome (O) was reducing groin infections. Method: The key elements of the PICO question were utilised to determine key alternative terms, which were then conjugated using Boolean Operators. With the use of inclusion and exclusion criteria, a search was carried out through several databases to retrieve relevant studies. The CASP tool was used to appraise these articles. Results: Six key studies were identified, two of which were meta-analysis and four were cohort studies. Five of these studies favoured negative pressure therapy over standard dressing, whilst one cohort study failed to find a significant difference between the two groups. Conclusion: Findings from this dissertation, concluded that negative pressure therapy has beneficial effects on reducing groin infections following vascular surgery. It was also established that negative pressure therapy is a superior form of treatment compared to standard dressings. Recommendations: Further research with larger samples and stronger methods are required both in Malta and abroad. It would be ideal that both healthcare professionals and patients are made aware of the potential benefits of this treatment, whilst also implementing it within the local practice.