DOES NEGATIVE PRESSURE WOUND THERAPY (NPWT) FOR TEMPORARY ABDOMINAL CLOSURE REALLY GIVE BETTER RESULTS?

Introduction: The success of primary fascial closure following TAC is lower in septic patients compared to non-septic patients1. Aim of the study is to analyze whether the outcome of laparostomy could be influenced by the type of TAC adopted Material and methods: We reviewed 271 patients undergone TAC during 2001-2015. Two groups were identified: Group A, 143 patients (52,7%) who had NPWT device and Group B, 128 patients (47,3%) who did not receive NPWT. Both of these groups were divided into two subgroups based on Septic/Non-septic causes. Main outocomes were mean age, mean length of open abdomen (LOA), definitive closure rate (DCR), and mortality. Results: Overall, between groupAand B, age (p = 0,668),mean LOA (p= 0,080), DCR (p = 0,147) and mortality (p = 0,824) resulted not significant. In GroupA 103 patients (72%) were treated for septic causes and 40 (28%) for non septic conditions; for each subgroup no significant differenceswere found in terms ofmean age (p = 0,319), mean LOA (p = 0,697), DCR (p = 0,227) and mortality (p = 0,357). In Group B, 93 patients (72,6%) had septic diseases and 35 (27,4%) non septic conditions: there was no significant difference about mean age (p = 0,552), mean LOA (p = 0,680), DCR (p = 0,827) and mortality (p = 0,677). Conclusion: This study did not show any impact of NPWT on the outcome of patients undergone open abdomen either for septic and non-septic conditions. However, the length of open abdomen in these patients was relatively short and this may have limited the potential benefits of NPWT. References: 1. A. Bruhin, F. Ferreira, M. Chariker, J. Smith, N. Runkel. Systematic review and evidence based recommendations for the use of Negative Pressure Wound Therapy in the open abdomen. Int J Surg. 2014 Oct;12(10):1105-14 Disclosure: No significant relationships.