Prophylactic PICO dressing shortens wound dressing requirements post emergency laparotomy (EL-PICO trial).

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) is a very common complication of emergency laparotomy and causes significant morbidity. The PICO device delivers negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) to closed incisions, with some studies suggesting a role for prevention of SSI in heterogenous surgical populations. We aimed to compare SSI rates between patients receiving PICO versus conventional dressing post-emergency laparotomy.