Role of Vacuum Assisted Closure Therapy Compared to Standard Moist Wound Dressing in the Treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers.

Abstract

Introduction: Amputation rates have dropped and diabetes awareness has increased due to several diabeticfoot treatment suggestions. Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) may now be properly treated with a range of cutting-edgemedicines, allowing practitioners the greatest local therapy available. One is negative pressure wound therapy.Aim of work: Assessment of vacuum assisted closure clinical efficacy compared with the standard moist wounddressing in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.Patients and methods: A total of 30 diabetic patients with diabetic foot ulcers were enrolled, after consentingeach of them and divided into two groups; group A (standard moist wound dressing) (SMWD) (control group)included fifteen cases who were treated with conventional moist dressing and group B (vacuum assisted Closure)(NPWT) (experimental group) included fifteen cases who were treated vacuum assisted closure. Progress of healingwas evaluated and documented in the form of change in wound diameter, depth, up or down scaling alongUniversity of Texas wound classification (UTWC), wound status at 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks and 4 weekly thereaftertill complete epithelialization with diligent recording of time required for complete epithelisation and number ofdressings required in the process for both groups.Results: Vacuum assisted wound closure is associated with better healing and diminished ulcer depth after 8weeks of treatment with amount of change 100.00 ± 0.00 vs. 93.79 ± 5.55%. It is also associated with higherincidence of complete granulation after 6 weeks of treatment 12 (80.0%) vs. 6 (40.0%). There are no differenceswere noted between study groups as regard age, sex., special habits and medical co morbidities, laboratoryinvestigations, ulcer site, ucler grading regarding University of Texas before and after treatment.Conclusion: VAC is safer and more effective than moist dressing for diabetic foot ulcers. VAC therapy speedswound healing, accelerates granulation tissue production, and reduces ulcer area compared to standard dressing.