Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT)

Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is used to promote wound healing, alleviate symptoms and improve the quality of life of patients with wounds (Davis, 2012; Apelqvist et al, 2017).  
 
There are several local factors in both acute and chronic wounds which are known to have a negative effect on wound healing, including infection, oedema, a large volume of exudate and/or chronic wound fluid, and ischaemia (Apelqvist et al, 2017).
 
The application of negative pressure to the wound bed is thought to result in a number of beneficial effects that overcome these barriers to promote wound healing.