Skin-stretching device promotes the treatment effect of vacuum sealing drainage technique on phases III and IV stress-induced injuries in aged patients with chronic critical illness: A retrospective study of 70 patients

Stress-induced injury is a common complication associated with patients with chronic critical illness (CCI). Skin-stretching device (SSD) and vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) technique are 2 approaches that can facilitate wound healing. In the present study, the effect of the concatenated application of the 2 techniques on the phases III and IV stress-induced injuries in aged patients with CCI was assessed. About 70 patients with CCI with stress-induced injuries were selected from February 2015 to October 2017. The treatment outcomes of the combined method and VSD method were assessed by comparing their clinicopathologic parameters. The results showed that the combined treatment shortened the average healing duration of wounds. Moreover, the total area of pressure sores, incidence of bleeding, bacteria amount, 28-day cure rate, peripheral C-reactive protein (CRP) level, and the hospitalization duration were all significantly improved in patients treated with SSD and VSD. The overall effective rate (97.14%) of patients treated with VSD and SSD was significantly higher than that (77.14%) in patients treated with VSD. The present study showed that the combined application of VSD and SSD improved the treatment outcomes of phases III and IV stress-induced injuries in aged patients with CCI.