Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is superior to conventional moist dressings in wound bed preparation for diabetic foot ulcers: A randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the efficacy of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) and alginate dressings on wound bed preparation prior to split thickness skin graft (STSG) surgery for patients with chronic diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs).

METHODS: Between September 2022 and March 2023, we completed a randomized controlled trial in Nanjing First Hospital and PLA 454 Hospital. Patients were divided into 2 groups: i) the NPWT group (with vacuum-assisted closure, n=50); ii) the control group (with alginates dressings, n=50). Once DFU wound was filled with healthy granulation tissues, STSG surgery was performed. The time to STSG surgery was regarded as the primary outcome. The survival rates of skin graft, the wound blood perfusion, the wound neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) formation, and polarization of M1 and M2 macrophages in DFU wounds were regarded ad secondary outcomes.

RESULTS: Patients in the NPWT group had less time to STSG surgery than the control group. The patients in the NPWT group had prominently increased survival rates of skin graft, increased wound blood perfusion, and decreased NET formation in comparison with the control group. The macrophages in DFU wounds switched from M1 to M2 phenotype in the NPWT group.

CONCLUSION: Negative pressure wound therapy is superior to conventional moist dressings in wound bed preparation prior to STSG surgery for patients with chronic DFUs.