Effects of Preventive Negative Pressure Wound Therapy With PICO on Surgical Wounds of Kidney Transplant Patients

Advances in surgical techniques and immunosuppression (IS) have led to an appreciable reduction in postoperative complications following kidney transplantation. However, surgical site events (SSE) including surgical site infections (SSI) and other wound complications are still very common and they can limit these improved outcomes and result in prolonged hospitalization, hospital readmission and reoperation, consequently increasing overall transplant cost. Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is a concept introduced initially to assist in the treatment of chronic open wounds. This technique uses a negative pressure unit and specific dressings that help to hold the incision edges together, redistribute lateral tension, reduce edema, stimulate perfusion and protect the surgical site from external infectious sources. Thus, it provides faster wound healing and shortens hospital stay. Recently, there has been growing interest in using portable NPWT devices on closed incisions after surgery to prevent potential SSI and other wound complications in high-risk patients. Investigations regarding this technique in various surgical settings have shown that it can reduce the risk of SSI and other wound complications. These studies concluded that any patient undergoing transplantation should be considered as 'high-risk' and should receive this treatment. To date, no studies are reported in literature exploring the effects of preventive use of portable NPWT devices on surgical wounds in the setting of organ transplantation. The aim of our study is to compare a portable NPWT device (PICO, Smith \& Nephew, London UK) to conventional gauze dressings in patients undergoing kidney transplantation (KT) surgery.