Vacuum-assisted wound closure is a type of therapy to help wounds heal. It is also known as venous wound aspiration. During treatment, a device reduces the amount of air. Some patients may need treatment with a vacuum for a few days. Other people may need it for several months.
The disease or its treatment may cause wounds to heal slowly. This is known as delayed wound healing. Slow healing can cause infections and other problems. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have a fever or increased swelling or pain in the wound. The toxic substances in cigarette smoke (especially nicotine, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen cyanide) greatly affect the body's ability to heal wounds.
Wound Healing Center of the Emergency Department of the Ninth People's Hospital affiliated with the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200011, China. Pengwen Ni, wound healing center of the emergency department of the Ninth People's Hospital affiliated with the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200011, China. Therefore, this study aimed to develop the health education components of NPWT at home for patients with chronic wounds using a modified Delphi method, which can improve the quality of NPWT education at home and improve patients' ability and self-care experience. The search strategy included “(chronic wound or refractory wound, diabetic foot ulcer, pressure injury or venous ulcer) and (home or community care or long-term care) and health education”.
This study was the first attempt to reach a consensus on the comprehensive components of NPWT health education at home for patients with chronic wounds. Beiqian Mao, wound healing center of the emergency department of the Ninth People's Hospital affiliated with the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200011, China. For example, experts suggested modifying the statement “Method of maintaining equipment during the NPWT process at home” to “Basic method of maintaining equipment during the NPWT process at home”, which referred to patients' need to know basic maintenance methods when using the NPWT machine at home, such as handling it with care, avoiding water damage and not trampling on it, instead of referring to the repair method in the event of a machine failure. Yao Huang, Wound Healing Center of the Emergency Department of the Ninth People's Hospital affiliated with the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200011, China.
However, there is no clear consensus on the content of health education provided to patients with chronic wounds at home for NPWT. Experts were selected based on their experience in the field of clinical practice, management or research related to wound care or healing. During wound aspiration therapy, the caregiver places a bandage (bandage) over the wound and applies the suction with a machine. This consensus would help wound professionals to better train patients and would provide a more detailed and complete reference for the follow-up of patients with NPWT in the home.
