Independent Study Showed Decrease in Operating Room Visits for Patients with Infected Wounds Using Adjunctive V.A.C. VeraFlo™ Therapy

SAN ANTONIO - Wednesday, May 8th 2013 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Kinetic Concepts, Inc. announced today that an independent study presented at the 2013 Symposium of Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) Spring conference in Denver, Colorado, showed that adjunctive treatment with V.A.C. VeraFlo™ Therapy, using the V.A.C.Ulta™ Negative Pressure Wound Therapy System, demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in operating room (OR) visits for patients whose infected wounds required hospital admission and serial surgical debridement.1 The study, conducted by physicians at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Center for Wound Healing, also showed a trend toward a two- to three-day reduction in hospital stay compared to traditional V.A.C.® Therapy.

“Preliminary data on V.A.C.® Therapy with instillation, using the wound irrigation solution Prontosan® (B Braun Medical Inc.), suggest that its use on chronic wounds significantly decreased the number of OR visits and time to final closure, while increasing the percentage of wounds closed,” said Christopher E. Attinger, M.D., Chief, Division of Wound Healing, Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, D.C. “A randomized, multi-center trial comparing the two therapies is currently underway.”

The retrospective, historical cohort-controlled study involving 142 patients assessed the effectiveness of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT, V.A.C.® Therapy) vs NPWT with instillation (V.A.C. VeraFlo™ Therapy using the V.A.C.Ulta™ Negative Pressure Wound Therapy System) in the adjunctive treatment of infected wounds that required hospital admission and serial surgical debridement. V.A.C. VeraFlo™ Therapy consisted of instillation with Prontosan® Wound Irrigation Solution until the foam was visibly saturated with either a 6- or 20-minute dwell time followed by 3.5 or 2 hours of continuous NPWT (-125 mmHg), respectively. Standard NPWT was delivered at -125 mmHg continuously.

“This study is the first to compare V.A.C. VeraFlo™ Therapy directly to standard NPWT, and we’re not surprised to learn our latest generation product, V.A.C. VeraFlo™ Therapy, with Prontosan® instillation, outperforms V.A.C.® Therapy, which itself is considered the current gold standard in NPWT,” said Joe Woody, president & CEO, KCI. “The Georgetown results reinforce the results from other instillation therapy clinical studies2,3 that also found a reduction in duration of hospital stay and/or number of surgical interventions, which can only be good for patients and healthcare providers alike.”

For more information on the V.A.C.Ulta™ Therapy System visit www.vaculta.com.

About KCI

Kinetic Concepts, Inc. (KCI) is a leading global medical technology company devoted to understanding, developing and commercializing innovative, high-technology transformational healing solutions for customers and patients in more than 25 countries around the world. Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, KCI is committed to advancing the science of healing and positively affecting patient care by developing customer-driven innovations to meet the evolving needs of healthcare professionals. Proprietary KCI negative pressure technologies have revolutionized the way in which caregivers treat a wide variety of wound types. The V.A.C.® Therapy System has been used on more than 7 million wounds worldwide. Additional information about KCI and its products is available at www.KCI1.com.

References

1. Powers KA, Kim PJ, Attinger CE, et al. Early Experience with Negative Pressure Wound Therapy with Instillation in Acutely Infected Wounds. Poster presented at the 2013 Symposium of Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) Spring Conference, May 1-5, 2013, Denver, CO.

2. Timmers MS, Graafland N, Bernards AT, Nelissen RG, van Dissel JT, Jukema GN. Negative pressure wound treatment with polyvinyl alcohol foam and polyhexanide antiseptic solution instillation in posttraumatic osteomyelitis. Wound Repair Regen 2009 March 1;17(2):278-86.

3. Gabriel A, Shores J., Heinrich C, et al. Negative pressure wound therapy with instillation: a pilot study describing a new method for treating infected wounds. Int Wound J 2008 June 1; 5(3):399-413.

Contacts

KCI Corporate Communications

Mike Barger, +1-210-255-6824

mike.barger@kci1.com