Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Using a New Pressure Monitoring Device for Wound Treatment: Results of an Animal Model

BACKGROUND: Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is a widely used therapeutic approach for skin and soft tissue defects, and selecting an appropriate negative pressure value is critically important. OBJECTIVE: To develop a wound pressure monitoring dressing (WPMD) integrating a novel pressure sensing chip with a previously developed polyvinyl acetate foam dressing. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly divided into 3 groups to receive -125 mm Hg pressure with the WPMD, -75 mm Hg pressure with the WPMD, or wound dressing without negative pressure (control). Data on pressure changes and wound conditions were collected over 7 consecutive days. Monitoring included pressure changes, gross wound morphology observations, and histopathological analyses. RESULTS: Monitoring data revealed pressure variations during wound healing ranging from -128 mm Hg to -63 mm Hg in the -125 mm Hg preset group, and from -72 mm Hg to -37 mm Hg in the -75 mm Hg preset group. The WPMD groups exhibited higher wound closure rates than the control group. Ki67, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2, transforming growth factor β1, and CD31 expression levels were elevated in the WPMD groups compared with the control group. CONCLUSION: The WPMD accurately and sensitively detected real-time pressure changes on wound surfaces under different preset negative pressure values (-125 mm Hg and -75 mm Hg). Furthermore, NPWT significantly accelerated wound healing in the rat model, and the healing rates were better in the -75 mm Hg group than in the -125 mm Hg group at day 5 and day 7. These results underscore the potential application of the WPMD in investigating the relationship between negative pressure values and wound healing rates across various wound types during treatment.