Treatment of stump complications after above-knee amputation using negative-pressure wound therapy.

Introduction: The stump wound complications after above-knee amputation lead to other problems, such as prolonged rehabilitation, delayed prosthetic restoration, the increase in total treatment cost and high mortality rates.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and outcomes of negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) using Vacuum-Assisted Closure (VAC®) therapy in patients with stump complication after above-knee amputation (AKA).

Methods: From January 2011 to July 2014, AKA was performed in 137 patients at the University Cardiovascular Clinic. Nineteen (12.4%) of these patients (mean age 69.3 ± 9.2 years) were treated with NPWT. The following variables were recorded: wound healing and hospitalization time, rate of NPWT treatment failure, and mortality.

Results: AKA was performed in 17 (89.5%) patients after the vascular or endovascular procedures had been exhausted, while urgent AKA was performed in two (10.5%) patients due to uncontrolled infection. The time before NPWT application was 3.1 ± 1.9 days and the duration of the NPWT use ranged from 15 to 54 days (mean 27.95 ± 12.1 days). During NPWT treatment, operative debridement was performed in 12 patients. All the patients were kept on culture-directed intravenous antibiotics. The average hospital length of stay was 34.7 days (range 21–77 days). There were four (20.9%) failures during the treatment which required secondary amputation. During the treatment, one (5.3%) patient died due to multi-organ failure after 27 days.

Conclusions: The use of NPWT therapy in the treatment of AKA stump complication is a safe and effective procedure associated with low risk and positive outcome in terms of wound healing time and further complications.