Flap monitoring with a small window created at negative pressure wound therapy

XU Mingze; DONG Jie; XUE Chunyu; WANG Yuchong

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-7040.2025.11.008

Abstract：Objective To investigate the application of a modified negative pressure wound therapy(NPWT)technique that we could monitor the flap by a small window at negative pressure dressings.Methods From October 2021 to November 2023,46 patients who underwent flap reconstruction in the Department of Plastic Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University.Among them,23 cases were in the control group and 23 cases were in the study group.In the control group,each flap was covered with convention-al dressing for flap monitoring.In the study group,the flap was covered with negative pressure dressing which contains a small window for monitoring the distal end of the flap.All patients were followed up for at least one year.The incidence of postoperative complications in both groups were statistically analyzed.Results Neither of patients presented flap necrosis after the operation.Compared with the control group,the occurrence of complications was less frequent in the study group.In terms of the self-rating anxiety scale(SAS),the postopera-tive anxiety score of the study group(35.48±12.02)score was significantly lower than that of the control group(52.17±11.83)score(P＜0.05).The degree of postoperative pain in the study group was significantly milder than that in the control group(P＜0.05).After a one year follow-up,by the Vancouver scar scale(VSS),the control group was higher than the study group,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).Conclusion The negative pressure placement observation window can more effectively monitor the vitality of the flap,reduce the occurrence of flap complications,and improve the physical and mental health of.