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1. A Randomized Trial of Vacuum-Assisted Wound Closure and Alginate Dressings in Healing Surgical Site Infections
Maria Zafar, Sidra Munawar, Muhammad Azhar, Muhammad Ali, Sadia and Huda Ali
ABSTRACT
Objective: This study aimed to compare the efficacy of vacuum-assisted would closure dressings with that of alginate dressings in superficial surgical site infection in terms of mean time for wound healing.
Study Design: A randomized controlled trial study
Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the Surgical Unit I of the POF Hospital Wah Cantt from January 2019 to June 2019.
Materials and Methods: The patients were randomly assigned to two groups of fifty patients each. In the VAC group, patients were treated with a vacuum-assisted wound closure dressing and those in the Alginate group were treated with an alginate dressing. All information was recorded on a predesigned proforma. All patients were given injections of ceftriaxone (1 gm) I/V 8 hourly for 5 days. The time taken for complete wound healing was recorded.
Results: The average age of the patients was 38.07 ± 9.01 years. Mean wound healing time was significantly shorter in the VAC group compared to control [53.44 ± 21.46 vs. 91.16 ± 29.71 days; p = 0.0005].
Conclusion: We conclude that, in superficial surgical site infection, VAC therapy can contribute to quicker wound healing than alginate therapy. Thus, VAC therapy is highly useful in an outpatient setting and could help improve the long-term care, quality of life and health outcomes of patients undergoing surgery.
Key Words: Wound healing, Blood coagulation, VAC dressing, Alginate dressing, wound healing.