RESEARCH ARTICLE
Negative Pressure Wound Therapy – A Review of its Uses in Orthopaedic Trauma
Sven Putnis*, 1, Wasim S Khan 2, James M.-L Wong 3
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2014Volume: 8
Issue: Suppl 1
First Page: 142
Last Page: 147
Publisher ID: TOORTHJ-8-142
DOI: 10.2174/1874325001408010142
Article History:
Received Date: 15/3/2014Revision Received Date: 18/3/2014
Acceptance Date: 24/3/2014
Electronic publication date: 27 /6/2014
Collection year: 2014

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/) which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
The use of Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) for complex and large wounds has increased in popularity over the past decade. Modern NPWT systems consisting of an open pore foam sponge, adhesive dressing and a vacuum pump producing negative pressure have been used as an adjunct to surgical debridement to treat tissue defects around open fractures and chronic, contaminated wounds. Other uses include supporting skin grafts and protecting wounds at risk of breaking down. This review outlines the current and emerging indications for negative pressure wound therapy in Orthopaedic trauma and the existing preclinical and clinical evidence base for its use.