V.A.C.® Therapy System
Before use, physicians should review complete risk information and essential prescribing information which can be found in the Product Instructions for Use.
The V.A.C.® Therapy System is an integrated wound management system for use in acute, extended and home care settings. It is intended to create an environment that promotes wound healing by secondary or tertiary (delayed primary) intention by preparing the wound bed for closure, reducing edema, promoting granulation tissue formation and perfusion, and by removing exudate and infectious material. It is indicated for patients with chronic, acute, traumatic, subacute and dehisced wounds, partial-thickness burns, ulcers (such as diabetic, venous insufficiency or pressure), flaps and grafts.
When used on closed surgical incisions, it is intended to manage the environment of surgical incisions that continue to drain following sutured or staple closure by maintaining a closed environment and removing exudates via the application of negative pressure wound therapy.
Only V.A.C.® Therapy provides patented SENSAT.R.A.C.™ Technology, a real-time pressure feedback system that adjusts pump output, compensating for wound distance, wound position, exudates characteristics, and patient movement.
V.A.C.® Therapy provides an environment that promotes wound healing
The mechanisms of action for V.A.C.® Therapy include drawing wound edges together, removing infectious materials and wound fluids, promoting perfusion, maintaining a closed, moist wound healing environment and promoting granulation tissue formation.
The integrated V.A.C.® Therapy System has a unique mechanism of action whereby the delivery of negative pressure through the V.A.C.® Therapy Units using proprietary V.A.C.® GRANUFOAM™ Dressings maintains a wound environment that promotes wound healing.
How V.A.C.® Therapy creates an environment that promotes wound healing
Under negative pressure, V.A.C.® Therapy with proprietary V.A.C.® GRANUFOAM™ Dressings applies mechanical forces to the wound to create an environment that promotes wound healing. These forces are known as macrostrain and microstrain.
Macrostrain is the visible stretch that occurs when negative pressure contracts the foam:
- Draws wound edges together
- Provides direct and complete wound bed contact
- Evenly distributes negative pressure
- Removes exudate and infectious materials
Microstrain is the microdeformation at the cellular level, which leads to cell stretch:
- Reduces edema
- Promotes perfusion
- Promotes granulation tissue formation by facilitating call migration and proliferation
Articles
- A randomised study of NPWT closure versus alginate dressings in peri-vascular groin infections: quality of life, pain and cost.
- Use of Vacuum Assisted Closure Therapy in the Treatment of Diabetic Foot Wounds
- Comparison of negative pressure wound therapy using vacuum-assisted closure with advanced moist wound therapy in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers: a multicenter randomized controlled trial.
- State-of-the-art treatment of chronic leg ulcers: A randomized controlled trial comparing vacuum-assisted closure (V.A.C.) with modern wound dressings.
- Negative pressure wound therapy after partial diabetic foot amputation: a multicentre, randomised controlled trial.
- A prospective randomized evaluation of negative-pressure wound dressings for diabetic foot wounds
- Comparison of health care costs and hospital readmission rates associated with negative pressure wound therapies.
- Negative-pressure therapy versus standard wound care: a meta-analysis of randomized trials.
- Vacuum-assisted closure for defects of the abdominal wall.
- Vacuum-assisted closure: microdeformations of wounds and cell proliferation.
- Vacuum-assisted closure: a new method for wound control and treatment: animal studies and basic foundation.
- Bacterial load in relation to vacuum-assisted closure wound therapy: a prospective randomized trial.
- Vacuum-assisted wound closure after resection of musculoskeletal tumors.
Your practitioner has chosen to treat your wound with V.A.C.® Therapy or Negative Pressure Therapy.
What is Negative Pressure Therapy or V.A.C.® Therapy?
With V.A.C.® Therapy or negative pressure therapy, wound healing is accelerated by a vacuum (negative pressure) and special wound dressings.
The V.A.C.® Therapy Foam Dressing is placed in or on the wound. The applied foam dressing consists of one type of foam or a combination of the foam types is used.
The choice of foam dressing will be made by your treating healthcare provider and will depend on the type, size and location of your wound and the wound healing goals required.
The foam and a few centimeters of the surrounding skin are covered with a transparent drape. A hole is cut in the center of the drape and the SENSAT.R.A.C. ™ pad is placed on top. The other end of the tubing connects to the canister attached to the pump.
When the integrated V.A.C.® Therapy System is applied and the unit is turned on, the foam dressing begins to collapse. At that point, you may experience a light pulling sensation.
The V.A.C.® Therapy System may draw infectious material and other fluid from your wound and collect it through the tubing into the canister.
There are different types of systems (pumps) that you can be treated with. In the hospital this is usually the V.A.C. ULTA™ or ACTIV.A.C.™. At home, an ACTIV.A.C ™ or the SNAP™ is usually used.