Murad Karadsheh, M.D.

Using a skin adhesive under negative pressure wound therapy dressings can help maintain a durable seal for wounds located on hard-to-fit places of the body, a new case study has found.

Successful healing when using negative pressure wound therapy depends on maintaining a proper vacuum seal of the adhesive dressing. A proper seal can be hard to maintain when the wound is located on a contoured or irregular surface, or where it is likely to be disrupted by moisture from perspiration, or the fecal or urinary stream.

Researchers at Michigan State University tested the efficacy of using skin adhesive under the NPWT dressing on a patient with burns to his anogenital region. The region’s irregular borders, bowel movements, moisture and patient transfers made an airtight seal difficult to maintain.

Doctors applied a cyanoacrylate tissue adhesive to cleaned and prepped skin surrounding the wound. After the adhesive dried, the NPWT dressing was placed on the wound overlapping the adhesive.

The dressings were changed every three to four days. In addition to being water resistant, the adhesive has antimicrobial properties to help prevent infection, researchers noted.

“[The] tissue adhesive [is] useful for almost every patient with difficult-to-treat wounds requiring NPWT,” wrote lead researcher Murad J. Karadsheh, M.D. 

The report was in Wounds