Technique Tip: Use of Incisional Negative-pressure Wound Therapy After Complex Foot and Ankle Reconstruction

Operative correction of complex foot and ankle deformities and surgical reconstruction through limited or compromised skin exposures can potentially lead to increased skin tension or tenuous incisional sites that result in costly wound healing problems. In these higher risk situations, carefully layered soft tissue closure can be augmented by a negative-pressure incisional dressing to enhance rapid epithelialization, control tissue tension, and mitigate fluid volume build-up beneath the incision line as a means of lowering the chances of dehiscence or subsequent wound infection while adding little further risk to the patient. Moreover, this technique can also be applied simultaneously to multiple incisions over the ipsilateral foot or ankle to diminish peri-incisional edema and thereby improve wound healing rates.