Vitamin and Trace Element Loss from Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy.

Objective: This study investigated select vitamin and trace element loss from wound exudates in burn and trauma patients treated with negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT).

Design: A prospective observational study was performed using wound exudate samples.

Setting: A level I trauma center acute care hospital.

Loss of protein, immunoglobulins, and electrolytes in exudates from negative pressure wound therapy.

Background: A relatively new technology in wound care, negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), has become widely used for the management of open abdomens and soft tissue wounds and provides a means to collect wound exudate to quantify protein loss.

Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted in surgical, trauma, or burn patients (8 patients with open abdomens and 9 patients with acute soft tissue wounds on NPWT). NPWT exudate was collected and assayed to characterize loss of protein, electrolyte, and immunoglobulins over multiple days of NPWT.