Fewer healing complications and improved scar quality with PICO NPWT System

Data from an international, multicentre-study presented at the Sixth European Symposium of Aesthetic Surgery of the Breast has shown significantly fewer wound healing complications associated with breast reduction surgery, through the post-operative application of PICO Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) system as compared to standard wound care.

The study, led by Dr Robert Galiano of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA, analysed the effectiveness of PICO in the reduction of post-surgical complications. 200 bilateral breast reduction patients were observed across six leading centres in USA, Europe and South Africa. For each patient PICO was used as an incision management system and compared to the standard post–operative wound care procedure (surgical strips).

The primary analysis shows significantly fewer overall healing complications for PICO compared to standard care (p=0.004), and a 38% relative reduction in surgical dehiscence (a surgical complication in which the wound ruptures along the surgical suture line) from 26.4% to 16.2% (p<0.001). The study also demonstrated that PICO provided a superior quality scar over standard of care at days 42 and 90 after surgery.

Dr Risal Djohan, of the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, USA, said, “PICO presents surgeons with a real opportunity to reduce surgical incision complications and improve the aesthetic outcome.”