Negative pressure wound therapy improved a widespread intractable wound in the genital region of a hemodialysis patient

Abstract

A 69-year-old male, who was under maintenance hemodialysis due to diabetic nephropathy for 3 years, complained of high fever and left inguinal pain. Clinical examination demonstrated widespread abscess from the left rectus abdominis muscle to right obturatorius externus muscle. Despite appropriate antibiotic administration and 5 episodes of surgical debridement, the wound did not heal. We then initiated negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT). By 1 month of NPWT, the wound had healed and he was discharged. NPWT improves wound healing effectively by exudate reduction and local blood perfusion improvement. Diabetic hemodialysis patients have a lot of factors inhibiting wound healing, such as immunity impairment and low blood perfusion due to arteriosclerosis, and sometimes severe infections become fatal. NPWT is effective for intractable wound healing in the genital area.