Effectiveness of negative pressure wound therapy for the wound of ileostomy closure: a multicenter, phase II randomized controlled trial

Background The American Society of Surgery and American Society for Surgical Infections issued guidelines for surgical site infections (SSIs) in December 2016. These guidelines recommend a purse-string suture (PSS) for stoma closure as it facilitates granulation and enables open wound drainage. This study investigated the effect of using negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) along with standard PSS and aimed to determine the optimal period of NPWT use. Methods The patients were divided into three groups as follows: Group A, postoperative wound management alone with gauze exchange as the representative of conventional PSS; Group B, the performed management was similar to that of Group A plus NPWT for 1 week; and Group C, the performed management was similar to that of Group A plus NPWT for 2 weeks. Regarding objective measures, the wound reduction rate was the primary outcome, and the incidence of SSIs, length of hospital stay, and wound healing duration were the secondary outcomes. Results In total, 30 patients (male: 18, female: 12) were enrolled. The average age was 63 (range: 43-84) years. The wound reduction rate was significantly higher in Group B than in Group A on postoperative days (PODs) 7 (66.1 vs. 48.4%, p = 0.049) and 10 (78.6 vs. 58.2%, p = 0.011), whereas no significant difference was observed on POD 14. Compared with Group A, Group C (POD 7: 65.9%, POD 10: 69.2%) showed an increase in the wound reduction rate on POD 7, although the difference was not significant (p = 0.075). SSIs were observed in Groups B (n = 2) and C (n = 2) (20%) but not in Group A (0%). Conclusions The most effective duration of NPWT use for ileostomy closure with PSS in terms of the maximum wound reduction rate was from PODs 3 to 10. However, NPWT did not shorten the wound healing duration. NPWT may reduce the wound size but should be used with precautions for SSIs. The small sample size (30 cases), the use of only one type of NPWT system, and the fact that wound assessment was subjective and not blinded were the limitations of this study. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings. Trial registration: UMIN Clinical Trials Registry; UMIN000032174 (10/04/2018).