After a traumatic injury, every touchpoint matters.
The choices you make at each care-delivery step require careful consideration of risks and outcomes. As you evaluate and care for burns, lacerations, open fractures, amputations and other traumatic wounds, we offer the support of our innovative products and world-class education — all backed by patient-centered science. Together, we can strive to reduce preventable complications, drive toward better outcomes and, ultimately, aspire to restore patients’ lives.
Traumatic wounds account for approximately 5.4% of all emergency department visits.1
As you evaluate patients with traumatic wounds, consider the negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) that best matches your treatment goals — from cleansing contaminated wounds to protecting open abdomens.
An integrated wound management system designed and clinically shown to create an environment that promotes wound healing. V.A.C.® Therapy has demonstrated in published studies the potential to help reduce hospitalisation time2,3 and risk of complications.4,5
Veraflo Therapy combines the benefits of NPWT with automated instillation and dwell of topical wound solution to provide simultaneous cleansing and granulation tissue formation.
AbThera Therapy helps protect abdominal contents from the external environment, allows rapid access for re-entry, provides medial tension8,9,10, and fluid removal. It helps to draw together wound edges and helps to achieve primary fascial closure.
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The number of microorganisms with which an object is contaminated is referred to as the bioburden. Susceptibility to therapy decreases as biofilm matures. Bioburden formation is commonly considered to occur in five main stages.11
A) Stage one: reversible attachment. Free-floating bacteria attach to surface.12
B) Stage two: permanent surface attachment. Bacteria can begin secreting matrix with 15 minutes of attachment.13
C) Stage three: protective matrix/biofilm. Bacteria replicate as fast as every 30 minutes10 and biofilm characteristics appear within 5 hours.14
D) Stage four: increasing tolerance to biocides. Mature biofilm can be observed within 8 to 10 hours.15,9
E) Stage five: reformation. Dispersion of bacteria from mature biofilms causes recolonisation.12
Wounds may be susceptible to contamination or the development of bioburden – key contributors to complications like infection, inflammation, and delayed healing. Veraflo Therapy combines vacuum assisted drainage with automated topical wound solution distribution to cleanse and remove wound debris helping to reduce bioburden.
Following a boating injury, a 26-year-old female received a transfemoral amputation resulting in a soft tissue defect. During transportation to the facility, the patient had a Combat Tourniquet and received 13 units of packed red blood cells and eight units of fresh frozen plasma. The wound was surgically debrided and irrigated at different stages of the treatment. She received therapeutic plasma exchange, continuous renal replacement therapy after being diagnosed with macrophage activation syndrome, and V.A.C.® Therapy at -125mmHg. When surgical debridement was not an option, Veraflo Therapy was initiated using a V.A.C. Veraflo Cleanse Choice Dressing, instilling 100ml of 0.125% Dakin’s Solution to help remove devitalized tissue. As wound healing progressed, Veraflo Therapy was transitioned to using 3M™ V.A.C. Veraflo™ Dressing, instilling 80ml normal saline. After the tangential excision and split-thickness skin graft, it was covered with a non-adherent layer and bolstered using V.A.C.® Therapy applied at -125mmHg. Systemic antibiotics were administered throughout the patient’s treatment period.
A) Day 0 of Veraflo Therapy - Wound on Day 9 before initiating Veraflo Therapy.
B) B) Day 4 of Veraflo Therapy – wound healing progressed.
C) Day 16 of Veraflo Therapy – Wound on day 25 with significant granulation tissue present and a considerable amount of coverage over the femur fragment.
Patient data and photos courtesy of Brandon Hill, RN, CWCN, FACCWS; Ochsner Louisiana State University Health Shreveport, Shreveport, LA
As with any case study, the results and outcomes should not be interpreted as a guarantee or warranty of similar results. Individual results may vary depending on the patient’s circumstances and condition.
A 33-year-old male amputee with history of tobacco use, anemia, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus presented with an infection of above-the-knee stump. Conservative sharp debridement was performed at the bedside, and oral antibiotics were initiated. As the wound required further cleansing, Veraflo Therapy using V.A.C. Veraflo Cleanse Choice Dressing was started. Hypochlorous solution (80-100 mL) was instilled with a 10-minute dwell time, followed by 2 hours of negative pressure at -125 mmHg. Dressing changes occurred every three days. After nine days, Veraflo Therapy was discontinued, and V.A.C.® Therapy was initiated.
Day 0 Wound at presentation
Day 6 of Veraflo Therapy using V.A.C. Veraflo Cleanse Choice Complete Dressing
Day 9 of Veraflo Therapy using V.A.C. Veraflo Cleanse Choice Complete Dressing
Patient data and photos courtesy of Luis Fernandez, MD, FACS, FASAS, FCCP, FCCM, FICS, University of Texas Health Science Center, Tyler, TX.
As with any case study, the results and outcomes should not be interpreted as a guarantee or warranty of similar results. Individual results may vary depending on the patient’s circumstances and condition.
After he was struck by an automobile, a 37-year-old pedestrian required an emergency laparotomy showing massive bleeding from a grade IV liver injury. The patient developed severe bowel edema, so surgeons performed damage control and used AbThera Therapy for temporary abdominal closure (TAC).
3M™ AbThera™ Advance Perforated Foam was cut to the size and shape of the opening and was placed over the visceral protective layer. 3M™ V.A.C.® Drape and tubing were placed over the dressing to create a seal, and the tubing was connected to the AbThera Therapy unit. Early definitive abdominal wall closure reduced the risk of complications and the need for subsequent surgeries.
A) Application of AbThera Fenestrated Visceral Protective Layer.
B) AbThera Therapy was used for 9 days.
C) Definitive closure on Day 9.
Patient data and photos courtesy of Demetrios Demetriades, MD, PhD, FACS Professor of Surgery Director, Division of Acute Care Surgery, Los Angeles County and University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA.
As with any case study, the results and outcomes should not be interpreted as a guarantee or warranty of similar results. Individual results may vary depending on the patient’s circumstances and condition.
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When looking at real-world NPWT initiation at wound care centers (WCCs), approximately 60% of traumatic wounds (n=919) received early therapy — within the first seven days. Based on this data, WCCs have an opportunity to initiate 3M™ V.A.C.® Therapy earlier, potentially improving outcomes for more patients.
Based upon the meta-analysis by Allen Gabriel, MD et al.17 an economic model was developed to compare the cost of using Veraflo Therapy to traditional wound care options including V.A.C.® Therapy.
Despite higher therapy cost of Veraflo Therapy, the reduction in therapy time and required OR visits resulted in a potential savings of 50%, or up to $33,337 per patient.17
Note: The model uses select study data to provide an illustration of estimates of costs for use of Veraflo Therapy or Standard of Care (Control). This model is an illustration and not a guarantee of actual individual costs, savings, outcomes or results. The facility is advised to use this model as an illustration only to assist in an overall assessment of products and pricing.
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