Vacuum sealing drainage to treat Fournier’s gangrene

BACKGROUND: Vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) is widely applied in complex wound repair. We aimed to compare traditional debridement and drainage and VSD in treating Fournier’s gangrene (FG). METHODS: Data of patients surgically treated for FG were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Of the 36 patients (men: 31, women: 5; mean age: 53.5 ± 11.3 [range: 28–74] years) included in the study, no patients died. Between-group differences regarding sex, age, BMI, time from first debridement to wound healing, number of debridements, FGSI, and shock were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). However, lesion diameter, colostomy, VAS score, dressing changes, analgesic use, length of hospital stay, and wound reconstruction method (χ(2) = 5.43, P = 0.04) exhibited statistically significant differences. Tension-relieving sutures (6 vs. 21) and flap transfer (4 vs. 2) were applied in Groups I and II, respectively. CONCLUSION: VSD can reduce postoperative dressing changes and analgesic use, and shrunk the wound area, thereby reducing flap transfer in wound reconstruction.