A novel negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) monitoring system for postoperative flap management

Various types of flaps are widely utilized as reconstructive options for patients with soft tissue defects. However, the postoperative monitoring of the flap requires a large amount of time and effort. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of this novel monitoring procedure using negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) immediately after the flap operations. A retrospective analysis was performed on patients who underwent free flaps and perforator flaps from March 2019 to December 2020. The flaps were managed by either novel NPWT method or conventional dressing. Among NPWT group, computed tomography angiography was performed in randomly selected 5 flaps on the third postoperative day for evaluation of pedicle compression. Statistical analysis was performed between the 2 groups. A total of 54 flaps were included in this study. Twenty seven flaps were managed using novel NPWT method and 27 flaps were managed using conventional dressing. There was no statistically significant difference in flap survival rates between the 2 groups (P = .91). The patency of flap pedicles in the NPWT group was confirmed by comparing the computed tomography angiography findings. The estimated total flap monitoring time and cost for 5 days was significantly decreased by the application of the novel NPWT monitoring system. Through the application of the novel postoperative monitoring system using NPWT, there is efficient evaluation of the flap. Furthermore, safe flap monitoring is possible with the reduced risk of infection by the avoidance of multiple manual dressing performed in the conventional method.