• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.39 no.9 s.266
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• pp.699-701
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• 2006

Mediastinitis and sternal wound infection frequently occurred after corrective surgery for complex heart anomalies. Most of the patients are neonate or infant and they have showed low oxygen tension. For that poor condition, application of invasive treatment of mediastinitis is not appropriate and recovery takes a long time. We successfully treated a mediastinitis after Norwood operation using vacuum assisted closure. So we introduce the technique and the modification of neonatal vacuum assisted closure.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.121-126
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• 2011

Purpose: Vaccum-assisted closure (VAC) has rapidly evolved into a widely accepted treatment of contaminated wounds, envenomations, infiltrations, and wound complications. This results in a sealed, moist environment where tissue is given the opportunity to survive as edema is removed and perfusion is increased. Many plastic surgeons now place a VAC device directly over the fasciotomy site at the time of the initial procedure. Large amounts of the fluid are withdrawn, and fasciotomies can be closed primarily sooner. This study was designed to observe the effect of VAC in preventing complications in snake bitten hands. Methods: In our study of three cases of snake bite, three of them underwent the VAC treatment & fasciotomy of the wound in the hand. This cases, the posterior compartment of the hand was bitten for a few days, releasing incisions were made of the posterior hand and 125 mmHg of continuous vacuum was applied to fasciomy incision site and the biting wound. The dressings were changed three times per week. Results: Our study examining the effects of applied vacuum in preventing snake bite wounds showed that the incidence of tissue necrosis and compartment syndrome was significantly lower for vacuum-treated wounds than for conservative wounds. Serum myoglobin, CK-MB, and CPK levels measured after fasciotomy incision were significantly decreased. We obtained satisfactory results from early dorsal fasciotomy, drainage of the edema with the VAC system, and then primary closure. The postoperative course was uneventful. Conclusion: Envenomation is a term implying that sufficient venom has been introduced into the body to cause either local signs at the site of the bite and/or systemic signs. Use of the vacuum-assisted closure device in snake bite can result in a decreased rate of tissue necrosis, lymphatic fluid collection, hemolytic fluid collection, and edema. Early fasciotomy of the dorsal hand and VAC apply is the alternative treatment of the snake bite.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.276-279
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• 2015

Subcutaneous emphysema is a benign condition following trauma (pneumothorax and oropharyngeal), cervical or thoracic procedures, and mediastinal infection. However, severe subcutaneous emphysema may be related to serious complications such as respiratory failure, airway compromise, and tension- related phenomena. Many alternative therapies have been tried to treat patients with this condition. We report our experience with vacuum-assisted closure therapy for treating patients with severe subcutaneous emphysema.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.727-732
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• 2005

The treatment of wounds of the lower extremity caused by diabetes or vascular dysfunction remains a difficult problem for the plastic surgeon. The use of negative pressure in wound healing is a relatively new method to facilitate chronic wound healing by secondary healing. The use of vacuum-assisted closure(VAC) system is purposed to reduce local edema, increase regional blood flow, enhance epithelial migration, preserve a moist wound environment, reduce bacterial colonization, promote granulation tissue formation, and mechanically enhance wound closure. The VAC also can be used as a dressing for anchoring an applied split thickness skin graft. We reviewed the data from 20 consecutive patients with non-healing wound in lower extremity at Dong-A University from March 2002 to December 2004. We used the VAC in 20 patients and compared the results with the control group. In the VAC using group, mean application duration was about 3 weeks and dressing change was done every other day. The follow-up period of patients ranged from 3 months to 30 months with a mean of 17 months. The points of comparison with control group are wound size, granulation tissue proliferation rate, operation method, preoperative time, postoperative healing time, complication, and cost. With those points, we propose to approve the efficiency of the VAC in non-healing wound. As a result, the VAC used in non-healing wound decrease wound size, accelerate granulation tissue formation, do a wound closure with less invasive operation method, make less postoperative complication, can make operation time shorter. Therefore it is cost effect. Our results demonstrate the usefulness of VAC as an adjunct in management of chronic wounds with other extrinsic factors.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.166-169
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• 2002

Poststernotomy mediastinitis is a rare but potentially life-threatening complication of cardiac surgery. Up to present, poststernotomy wound infection has been treated by closure of wound directly or by use of myocutaneous flaps after irrigation and debridement of wound. We describe a new treatment of poststemotomy wound infection by using the vacuum-assisted closure technique. This technique was successfully applied in 3 patients with poststernotomy wound infection and mediastinitis, and a healed sternotomy wound could be achieved using this new technique.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.260-262
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• 2012

Postpneumonectomy empyema is a life-threatening complication, which is often related with a bronchopleural fistula. After surgical repair of fistula, sterilization of infected pleural cavity is important and usually carried out by long-term cyclic irrigation. We report a case in which vacuum-assisted closure device was successfully applied to sterilize the pleural cavity and obliterate bronchopleural fistula.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.413-416
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• 2010

Fleischmann et al. first described the concept of using sub-atmospheric pressure to treat open or infected wounds in 1993. Since then, Argenta and Morykwas developed subatmospheric, or negative pressure dressings in 1997 as a means of managing complicated wounds. Since its introduction in 1997, the vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) system has been used widely in general plastic surgery, general surgery, and orthopedic surgery to manage complicated wounds of the torso and extremities. However, there is a paucity of literature describing its use in the head and neck region, particularly in oral and maxillofacial surgery. We report a successful case of postoperative orocutaneous fistula closure using a VAC system in a 59-year male with a review of the relevant literature.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.153-155
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• 2013

A 57-year-old man was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent pneumonectomy and mediastinal lymph node dissection. He was discharged without acute complications, but on a regular outpatient follow-up, he was readmitted with postpneumonectomy empyema. He was successfully treated with a vacuum-assisted closure device and for 1 year period of outpatient follow-up, there was no recurrence of empyema or lung cancer.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.383-387
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• 2013

Vacuum-assisted closure therapy is an alternative method for a massive subcutaneous emphysema treatment. It is easily applicable and shows rapid effectiveness in massive subcutaneous emphysema, intractable with chest tube drainage.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.147-150
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• 2023

A child being supported with an extracorporeal ventricular assist device, such as the Berlin Heart EXCOR (Berlin Heart GmbH, Berlin, Germany), must have at least 2 large cannulae for a long period. Management of cannula wounds is crucial since a cannula forms a track of prosthetic material passing the mediastinum to the heart. Deep wound complications, if they occur, can be troublesome and difficult to control with conventional methods. We applied vacuum-assisted closure to a patient who had Berlin-Heart EXCOR and a gap at the cannulation site. Herein, we describe the technical aspects of management in detail.