Advice

Key points

Key points

The Versajet II hydrosurgery system (Smith & Nephew) can be used for wound debridement (acute and chronic wounds and burns) and soft tissue debridement in people who need sharp debridement. The Versajet II hydrosurgery system is a modification of an earlier version, Versajet.

No clinical evidence was found for the Versajet II hydrosurgery system. The limited information found on the differences between the Versajet II and Versajet hydrosurgery systems suggests that the clinical evidence for Versajet is likely to apply to Versajet II.

There were 6 randomised controlled trials (3 on burns and 3 on chronic wounds) and 3 non-randomised comparative studies evaluating the original Versajet hydrosurgery system. The outcomes suggested mixed results. Compared with comparators:

  • the Versajet hydrosurgery system was either faster or took the same time to debride wounds

  • healing time or wound closure was no different or shorter with the Versajet hydrosurgery system

  • pain experience was no different

  • there was less blood loss using the Versajet hydrosurgery system in one randomised controlled trial, but in another trial, a large blood vessel was cut in the Versajet group.

In one randomised controlled trial 25% of patients had adverse events in the Versajet arm compared with 9.5% in the comparator arm.

Meta-analysis was not possible as numerical results were not given in most of the studies.

Two studies compared the cost of treatment using the Versajet hydrosurgery system against conventional debridement. One study estimated treatment using the Versajet hydrosurgery system to be less costly. The other found no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups in terms of cost of the first operative procedure, cost of surgical procedures during the study, cost of study treatment or cost to achieve stable wound closure.