A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Treatment of Venous Leg Ulcers Using Mechanically Versus Electrically Powered Negative Pressure Wound Therapy

Objective: This study compares two different negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) modalities in the treatment of venous leg ulcers (VLUs), the ultraportable mechanically powered (MP) Smart Negative Pressure (SNaP®) Wound Care System to the electrically powered (EP) Vacuum-Assisted Closure (V.A.C.®) System

Comparison of negative pressure wound therapy with an ultraportable mechanically powered device vs. traditional electrically powered device for the treatment of chronic lower extremity ulcers: a multicenter randomized-controlled trial

The purpose of this study was to compare the ultraportable mechanically powered Smart Negative Pressure (SNaP(®)) Wound Care System to the traditional electrically powered Vacuum-Assisted Closure (VAC(®)) Therapy System in the treatment of chronic lower extremity wounds. This 12-center randomized-controlled trial of patients with noninfected, nonischemic, nonplantar lower extremity wounds had enrolled 65 patients, as of January 5, 2010, at the time of a planned interim analysis. Subjects were randomly assigned to treatment with either the SNaP(®) or VAC(®) Systems. The trial evaluated treatment for up to 16 weeks or till complete closure was achieved. Fifty-three patients (N=27 SNaP(®), N=26 VAC(®)) completed at least 4 weeks of therapy. Thirty-three patients (N=18 SNaP(®), N=15 VAC(®)) completed the study with either healing or 16 weeks of therapy. At the time of planned interim analysis, no significant differences (p=0.99) in the proportion of subjects healed between the two devices evaluated were found. In addition, the percent wound size reduction between treatment groups was not significantly different at 4, 8, 12, and 16 weeks, with noninferiority analysis at 4 weeks of treatment reaching the p-value <0.05 significance level (*p=0.019). These interim data suggest no difference in wound closure between the SNaP(®) System and the VAC(®) System in the population studied. We look forward to the final analysis results

Impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on an academic vascular practice and a multidisciplinary limb preservation program.

With the aggressive resource conservation necessary to face the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, vascular surgeons have faced unique challenges in managing the health of their high-risk patients. An early analysis of patient outcomes after pandemic-related practice changes suggested that patients with chronic limb threatening ischemia have been presenting with more severe foot infections and are more likely to require major limb amputation compared with 6&nbsp;months previously. As our society and health care system adapt to the new changes required in the post-coronavirus disease 2019 era, it is critical that we pay special attention to the most vulnerable subsets of patients with vascular disease, particularly those with chronic limb threatening ischemia and limited access to care