With early diagnosis and intervention, patients with acute mesenteric ischemia may have a better a chance to survive.

In the last decades, negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) treatment has opened great possibilities in wound management. First used in the Russo-Afghan War in 1985 by Nail Bagaoutdinov, [1] modern vacuum treatment was, then, introduced by Louis Aregenta [1] and Michael Morykwas [1] in 1990 using a combination of polyurethane foam and a mechanical vacuum machine. [1] Use of the technique in everyday care began in 1993. In 2017, the textbook Negative Pressure Therapy: Theory and Practice was published in Hungarian, and in 2019 in English, with clinical studies, but largely based on individual experiences. [2] Medical sites dealing with the technique include Web of Science 1,251, PubMed 4,590, Google Scholar 14,900 hits currently.Objectives: In this study, we aimed to assess the effectiveness of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) in a five-year patient cohort and to discuss the results in the light of literature data.Patients and methods: Between January 2012 and December 2016, a total of 74 patients (35 males, 39 females; median age: 60 years; range, 20 to 95 years) who received NPWT were retrospectively analyzed. The patients included 49 orthopedic and traumatology, 12 vascular surgery, and 13 general surgery patients. The efficacy of wound healing, bacterial load, and the impact of comorbidities on wound healing were examined. Results:The distribution of wound types varied very widely. Certain comorbidities affected wound healing. In orthopedictraumatology patients, we observed mainly skin flora infection (57.14%), while in surgical and vascular patients, mixed flora (80%) and in many cases poly-resistant pathogens were present (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus 24%) A total of 43.3% of wounds were completely closed, while 44.6% of patients had a wound healing. Successful skin grafting was performed in 75% of wounds. Conclusion:This technique may be used as widely and as early as possible. However, further large-scale, multi-center, randomized clinical trials are needed worldwide to find a place for this technique in wound care and even in primary care.

The beginning of wound care dates back many thousand years. To make the wet wound treatment as it is used today so effectively had a bumpy road so far. Recognition of local processes, mapping of the effectiveness of materials needed for wound care, bleeding attenuation and traumatic shock management, destruction of invading pathogens, ensuring optimal hygiene for wound care, treatment of the underlying disease in chronic wounds, all contribute to our contemporary effective care. The series of military campaigns over millennia substantially promoted the treatment of casualties, and many achievements spreading in our day-to-day practice were taken over from the field surgery.