Conclusions
The Vacuum assisted closure (VAC) is a widely accepted device for the treatment of chronic and acute wounds in adult population; its use is progressively extending to the pediatric patients for the treatment of dehiscences and a wide spectrum of different pathologies.
In 2000 Moneey et al. [
7] reported 27 pediatrics patients (age range 3 days to 18 years) in which the VAC system was used for the treatment of soft tissue defects resulting from acute or chronic extremity or axial wounds that failed primary surgical closure. The healing was obtained either by the exclusive use of the device or by adding a skin graft or flap after an adequate granulation tissue had developed. The Authors underlined the advantage of obtaining a wide surface of granulation tissue in a short time and the possibility to avoid extensive microvascular tissue transfer.
Similar favorable results were reported by Butter et al. [
8] who described 16 children (range 1 month-18 years) receiving VAC treatment. Indications in this population were not only wound dehiscences (abdomen, sternum, back and leg) but also extensive tissue loss after pilonidal sinus excision, and chronic postoperative perineal fistulas. Wound closure occurred in 15 out of 16 patients and mean healing time was 28 days in case of dehiscences. Time to achieve complete healing was longer in recurrent pilonidal sinuses compared to primary excisions. In their report the Authors underline the benefits of fewer dressing changes, the faster return to daily activities and the cost-effectiveness of VAC treatment compared to daily dressings despite the higher cost of the device.
The effectiveness of VAC in pediatrics was also demonstrated by Caniano et al. [
5], in 2005, who reported an optimal success rate in the management of 51 pediatric patients with different pathologies. Despite the retrospective basis of their analysis the Authors infer a better cost-effectiveness of the device compared to traditional dressings due to the documented faster healing. Seven patients out of 51 presented an extensive tissue loss of the abdominal wall and two of them were neonates. In these latter patients the healing occurred over an average period of 1 month.
The management of complex wounds in newborns is more challenging than in children. In fact such lesions can be a life-threatening problem for these patients because of the significant amount of extracellular fluid loss that can be expected due to the high surface-area-to-volume ratios. In his paper Arca [
4] underscores the disadvantages related to heat loss (due to prolonged contact with the extracellular fluids) and to the fasting necessary to administer anesthesia in cases of repeated return to the operating room. All of these drawbacks are eliminated by the use of VAC system. In both of our cases no return to the operating room was necessary: all dressing changes were performed at the bedside and no analgesia or sedation proved necessary during the procedures. Additionally an accurate measurement of the fluid losses allowed appropriate restoration thus avoiding fluid and electrolytes imbalance.
The application of the VAC system to neonates implies some necessary adaptations in terms of choice of the most appropriate kind of foam, pressure applied and protection of the surrounding skin and underlying viscera.
VAC system is provided with 2 types of sponges with different cell sizes (VAC GranuFoam Dressing [black-colored sponge] or VAC WhiteFoam Dressing [white-colored sponge]; KCI, San Antonio, TX); the latter comes pre-soaked in saline and has the smallest cell size, therefore it and is thought to be less adherent than the other thus preventing excessive risk of fistula formation. In our cases the GranuFoam (largest cell size) was used but direct contact to the fascial defect and the enteric fistula was prevented by interposition of a small piece of the same adhesive drape sealing the VAC system.
Another relevant issue for application of VAC to neonates is the correct setting of negative pressure. The device can develop a negative pressure range of −25 to −125 mmHg. Though it is commonly set at −125 mmHg when used in adult patients, the recommended vacuum level for neonates is −50 to −75 mmHg. In our cases the vacuum was kept at - 50 mmHg at the beginning of VAC treatment due to exposure of an intestinal loop or the presence of an enteric fistula. Subsequently, once coverage was achieved with a thin layer of granulation tissue we modified the pressure setting to - 75 mmHg.
Some Authors [
6] suggest to interpose a thin Duoderm dressing (ConvaTec, Princeton, NJ) between the skin and the plastic drape in order to protect the skin surrounding the defect from maceration or mechanical injury at removal of the plastic drape. We didn’t use this protection layer in both our cases and no skin damage was observed in any of the patients.
In order to prevent the underlying structures from being damaged by excessive vacuum a non-adherent dressing (Adaptec, Johnson and Johnson, Langhorne, PA) may be applied to the wound bed, especially in those cases in which it is difficult to determine which structures are exposed [
3,
6]. In our experience protection of the enteric fistula and the exposed bowel loop was obtained by interposing a piece of the VAC drape to the modeled foam; in this way complete healing of the wound and no residual ventral hernia was obtained.
Enteric fistulas have been considered as complications of VAC system [
3]. The Authors suggest to increase the vacuum in the presence of an enteric fistula providing a different collection bag for the enteric effluent. Our experience indicates that in cases of low output fistulas keeping the vacuum to a low level may help in obtaining closure of the fistula. This may be due either to the size or the output of the fistula; we think that an appropriately low negative pressure applied to the device could have played a role in the favorable result.
The optimal results in the two cases described confirm that VAC system is a safe and effective device in the treatment of complex wounds even in neonates or preterm babies.
Written informed consent was obtained from the parents for publication of this case report and any accompanying images. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the Editor-in-Chief of this journal.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors’ contributions
FVP conceived and drafted the manuscript. LM and CM carried out the patients’ images. AT , EAC and VDC participated in the design of the report and performed the references research. LN and GC, and participated in report’s design, coordinating and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.