Effect of incisional negative pressure therapy and conventional treatment on wound complications after orthopaedic trauma surgery: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies

Abstract

The results of this meta-analysis were applied to analyse the effects of Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) and conventional dressings on post-surgical outcomes after trauma in orthopaedics. Through June 2023, a full review of the literature has been carried out with the help of 4 databases, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and the Web of Science. The quality of the literature was evaluated according to the classification and exclusion criteria established for this trial, which led to an analysis of 9 related trials. The results included the injury was deeply and superficially infected, and the wound was dehiscence. The 95% confidence interval (CI) and odds ratios (OR) were computed by means of a fixed-effect and a random-effect model. Meta-analyses were conducted with RevMan 5.3. There is no statistical significance between NPWT and routine therapy for deep wound infection (OR, 1.37; 95% CI, 0.82–2.27, p = 0.23); There was no difference in the incidence of inflammation in the wound than with conventional dressings (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.84–1.45, p = 0.49); But NPWT was obviously superior to that of routine therapy in superficial wound infection (OR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.32–3.25, p = 0.002) and wound dehiscence (OR, 2.44; 95% CI, 1.31–4.57, p = 0.005); But not with respect to wound exudate. therapy group, but no statistically significant difference was found with respect to wound exudation. (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 0.86–1.57, p = 0.34). Given that some of the chosen trials are too small for this meta-analysis, caution should be exercised when treating their values. More high-quality research with a large sample is required in order to confirm the findings.