Promising results after vacuum-assisted wound closure and mesh-mediated fascial traction

Patients with an open abdomen (OA) present a major challenge to the surgeon. High mortality and associated complication rates have been reported depending on the specific method of temporary abdominal closure, the primary disorder and any co-morbidity. Vacuum-assisted wound closure and mesh-mediated fascial traction (VAWCM) is a novel technique recently introduced for late fascial closure of the OA. In previous studies, the disease aetiologies were mainly vascular and visceral surgical disease and trauma. We report our results using VAWCM in a non-trauma patient population treated with an OA due to visceral surgical disease.