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Wound care
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Recognising its clinical and economic benefi ts, more countries are making negative pressure wound therapy more accessible in community settings, but challenges remain. Jim Banks speaks to Viviana Gonçalves, a complex wound care specialist at Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de São João, Alexandre Rodrigues of the Universidade de Aveiro, and Maria Guedes, a specialist in tissue viability at the Duorum Saúde Clinic, about the opportunities and obstacles that lie ahead in bringing NPWT to more patients.
T
he technology is nothing new, the positives for patients are proven and a clear case can be made for the economic benefits. Yet the use of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is not nearly as widespread as it could – or should – be. That is the view of many clinicians who have seen first-hand the benefits of this relatively simple process of applying a dressing to a wound, covering it with a transparent film, and then using an NPWT
device to lower the pressure on the wound side, draw away excess fluid, thus creating an environment in which the wound can heal faster and with greatly reduced risk of infection. Removing the pressure on the surface of a wound created by gasses in the air around us – the principle behind vacuum-assisted wound closure – allows fluid to be gently pulled from the wound over time, reducing swelling, cleaning the site and encouraging the movement of lymph.
Practical Patient Care /
www.practical-patient-care.com
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