Routledge Tom, Saeb-Parsy Kourosh, Murphy Fiona, Ritchie Andrew J
Transplant Unit, Papworth Hospital, Papworth Everard, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom.
J Heart Lung Transplant. 2005 Sep;24(9):1444. doi: 10.1016/j.healun.2004.12.111.
We present 6 cases of the successful use of vacuum-assisted closure dressings as the primary treatment of wound infection after thoracic organ transplantation. In a series of 160 successive transplant operations, deep wound infections developed in 6 patients (3.7%). These all fully resolved over 3 to 29 days with the use of vacuum dressings. We believe vacuum-assisted closure therapy in the context of heart and lung transplantation is effective, well tolerated, and avoids the need for repeated surgical debridement and reconstruction.
