Use of a Novel Silicone-Acrylic Drape With Negative Pressure Wound Therapy in Four Patients with Periwound Skin Breakdown

Introduction
Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT*) is applied using a foam dressing and an adhesive acrylic drape^† to create a seal. Removal of this drape can be painful and may play a role in periwound skin breakdown during dressing changes. A novel silicone-acrylic hybrid drape (HA-drape^‡) has been developed for use with NPWT to allow for reposition following initial placement and easier removal. This four-patient case series reports on the use of the HA-drape in patients who developed periwound skin breakdown. The goal was to minimize skin breakdown while maintaining a seal on the dressing.

Methods
Four patients with mild to moderate peri-wound skin breakdown were selected to receive NPWT with HA-drape. NPWT was applied utilizing a reticulated open cell foam dressing^§ followed by placement of the HA-drape to create a seal. NPWT was initialed at -125 mmHg with dressing changes occurring every 2 days. Wound healing, periwound healing, and patient reported pain were assessed at dressing changes.
Results: All four patients showed significant periwound skin improvement after the first dressing change. All patients reported a decrease in the pain with dressing removal.

Conclusions
In these 4 patients, use of NPWT with the HA-drape resulted in intact periwound with improved periwound skin healing and reduced patient reported pain associated with dressing changes.

*V.A.C.^® Therapy, ^†V.A.C.® Drape; ^‡V.A.C. DERMATAC™ Drape, ^§V.A.C.® GRANUFOAM™ Dressing ; KCI, , San Antonio, TX