Authors (including presenting author) :
Lam MY(1), Shit KYF(1), Tong SY(1), Tong MH (2), Cheung KWA(1), Mak HN(1), Yu HY(1), Leung YY(1), Wong YK(1), Lee LN(1), Chim CK (2)
Affiliation :
(1) NTEC Wound Services Team, Department of Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, (2) NTEC Community Outreach Service Team
Keyword 1: :
Single-use Negative Pressure Wound Therapy
Keyword 3: :
Facilitate early discharge
Keyword 4: :
Shared-care support
Keyword 5: :
Patient competency
Introduction :
Chronic and complex wounds present significant challenges in clinical management, often requiring hospital stays longer than two weeks; Lo et al. (2020) reported that the average duration of a wound episode was 17.7 days. This extended hospitalization and frequent dressing changes can impact the patient's quality of life and healthcare resources. Single-use negative pressure wound therapy (sNPWT) has emerged as an innovative solution, enabling patients to receive effective wound care in ambulatory or home settings (Lim et al., 2021; Li and Zheng, 2024). However, transitioning wound care from hospital to home introduces new considerations, including patient competency in device handling, the risk of technical issues such as leakage or device malfunction, and the need for ongoing professional support (Huang et al., 2022).
Objectives :
This project aimed to implement sNPWT to support early ambulation, facilitate early discharge, reduce dressing frequency and hospital bed occupancy, and improve patient experience in home wound care through education and shared-care support, while maintaining wound healing and safety.
Methodology :
A prospective study involved 34 patients (18 females, 16 males) managed across inpatient wards (n=13), outpatient wound clinics (n=4), and community or home care (n=17). sNPWT was started in ward, clinic, or community outreach settings for up to 2 weeks, with planned dressing changes every 7 days, wound size measured and photographed at baseline and weekly follow‑up. All patients or caregivers received structured advice and wound‑care education, used wound diaries to record at‑home issues, and were followed through shared‑care for wound forms linking hospital and community teams, supported by a hotline for troubleshooting and triage. Patient‑reported experience measures (PREMs) were collected at the end of treatment.
Result & Outcome :
During the two-week follow-up, the wound area decreased by 32.6%, from 12.6 cm² to 8.5 cm². 82.4% (28/34) maintained sNPWT durations of 7–14 days. Dressing frequency was reduced from daily or three times weekly to weekly in 82.4% of cases, resulting in 312 fewer changes (GOPC 110; COST 128; ward 74). Among inpatients, 62% (8/13) were discharged earlier than the typical> 2-week stays, saving 88 inpatient bed days. Technical issues occurred in 17.6% (6/34) of cases, and 23.5% (8/34) only required clinical intervention. Majority of patients (93.3%) reported high satisfaction, and 79% (27/34) adhered to home maintenance successfully. The sNPWT pathway improved efficiency, supported safe hospital-to-home transition, and promoted community-centred care, balancing efficacy with patient autonomy.
