Biofilms in chronic wounds and the potential role of negative pressure wound therapy: an integrative review.

Biofilms are communities of microbes that exist in a variety of environments. The extracellular substances secreted by biofilms make them difficult to eradicate, giving the bacterial community in the biofilm a resistance advantage over freefloating (planktonic) microbes. Biofilms are particularly problematic in chronic wounds because of their resistance to conventional therapies and tendency to delay healing.

A prospective study of negative pressure wound therapy with integrated irrigation for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.

Objective: Patients with diabetes often present with pedal wounds resistant to standard wound healing modalities and become chronic in nature. These chronic wounds in diabetic patients have a high incidence of complications including infection and amputation. Negative pressure wound therapy has been found to facilitate healing of the stagnant pedal wound.