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Negative pressure wound therapy is one of the dominant adjunctive wound care modalities used in North America. One company has a proprietary hold on the market for this type of wound therapy and recent wound care literature has focused on the company's products rather than on the concept itself. Currently utilized standards for negative pressure wound therapy are based on a few relatively recent publications originating after 1997. However, a review of the English and Russian literature that predates this work reveals discrepancies regarding optimal duration of treatment, intensity of negative pressure, mode of application, timing of application, and intervals between treatments. A careful review of research that has rarely been cited in recent wound care literature elucidates the inconsistencies between currently held dogma and less well known negative pressure research. In order to achieve optimal outcomes of care, current practices must be re-evaluated and researched using well-established guidelines for determining treatment safety and effectiveness.

Pressure ulcers, a devastating and costly healthcare problem, often occur in home healthcare settings. We sought to determine if these and other chronic wounds treated at home with negative pressure wound therapy close faster and reduce treatment costs compared to conventional therapies. Records for 1,032 Medicare home healthcare patients with 1,170 wounds that failed to respond to previous interventions--and were subsequently treated with negative pressure wound therapy--were reviewed. Reductions in wound area and volume were compared to rates reported by Ferrell in 1993, and costs were analyzed. Ferrell reported trochanteric and trunk pressure ulcers averaging 4.3 cm2, treated with a low-air-loss surface and saline-soaked gauze closed at an average of 0.090 cm2 per day. For comparison to Ferrell's outcomes, we analyzed our Stage III and IV trochanteric and trunk wounds treated with low-air-loss and negative pressure wound therapy. Ours averaged 22.2 cm2 in area and closed at an average of 0.23 cm2 per day. The average 22.2 cm2 wound in our study, treated as described by Ferrell, would take 247 days to heal and cost $23,465. Using negative pressure wound therapy, the wound would heal in 97 days and cost $14,546. The study concluded that negative pressure wound therapy is an efficacious and economical treatment modality for a variety of chronic wounds.