Negative pressure wound therapy is widely used in the treatment of hard-to-heal wounds; however, pain during dressing changes, which is often associated with pain on the commencement and cessation of pressure application and because of in-growth of new granulation tissue into interstices of foam dressings, is often experienced. Anecdotal reports have suggested that choice of gauze as the negative pressure wound therapy dressing may reduce the pain associated with dressing changes. A prospective, multi-center, non-comparative clinical investigation was carried out using gauze-based negative pressure wound therapy in chronic and acute wounds. Over 152 patients were evaluated. Median duration of therapy was 18 days with 91% of patients progressing towards healing at the end of therapy. Wound pain and odour were significantly reduced (P < 0.001) over the course of therapy. Wound pain during dressing changes was reported to be absent in 80% of dressing removals. No damage to the wound bed following dressing removal was observed in 96% of dressing changes. Dressing applications were considered easy in 79% of assessments and took a median of 20 min to complete. In patients susceptible to pain, gauze-based negative pressure therapy may be a viable option to maximise patient comfort.

Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) is commonly used in many surgical specialties to improve wound management and healing outcomes. This study reports the ability of gauze-based NPWT to address several treatment goals commonly defined at the onset of therapy. A prospective, multi-center, non-comparative clinical investigation was carried out using gauze-based NPWT in chronic and acute wounds. 131 patients including traumatic, post-surgical and chronic wounds were assessed. Weekly percentage reductions in wound area, depth and volume were 8.3%, 15.8% and 20.5% respectively (p < 0.001). A reduction in exudate level was observed from baseline to treatment discontinuation (p < 0.001). An increase (p = 0.007) in red granulation tissue and a decrease (p < 0.001) in non-viable tissue was observed. Baseline wound characteristics associated with slower rates of progress included chronic wound aetiologies, longer wound duration prior to NPWT and presence of diabetes as a co-morbidity. Important indicators of wounds which had improved sufficiently and no longer required NPWT included reduction in volume and exudate levels. Gauze-based NPWT can be used to address many of the treatment goals commonly defined at the onset of therapy including reduction in wound volume, management of exudate and infection status, and improvement in wound bed quality.