Prophylactic negative-pressure wound therapy for prevention of surgical site infection in abdominal surgery: a nationwide cross-sectional survey

Our objective was to determine current practice in Switzerland regarding the use of pNPWT in abdominal surgery. An online survey was carried out to evaluate the use of pNPWT among abdominal surgeons in Switzerland. One hundred and ten participants replied to the survey from 16.12.2019 to 15.01.2020. Eleven were excluded, leaving 99 responders for analysis. Seventy participants (70.7%) were using pNPWT, 3 (3%) have stopped using it and 26 (26.3%) have never used it. pNPWT was used on midline laparotomy by 63 responders (90%), closed stoma wounds by 21 (30%), closed perineal wounds by 20 (28.6%), Pfannenstiel incisions by 18 (23.7%), groin incisions by 16 (22.9%), subcostal incisions by 13 (18.6%), Mc Burney incisions by 3 (4.3%) and other incisions by 18 (25.7%). Forty-eight participants (68.6%) used pNPWT on less than 10% of patients, 14 (20%) on 10-25% of patients, six (8.6%) on 25-50% of patients and two (2.9%) on 75-100% of patients. Suggestions for improvement to pNPWT were: better sealing, recyclable system, better adaptation to the perineum, smaller device, reduced cost and possibility to check the surgical wound through the dressing. In conclusion, pNPWT is widely used among Swiss surgeons, mostly on midline incisions. However, most of them apply pNPWT on a small proportion of patients only. Suggestions for improvement were a better sealing for complex wounds, reduced cost and possibility to check the wound during the therapy.