The VAC Veraflo Therapy system for acute infected or chronic wounds that are failing to heal
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1 Recommendations
1.1 The VAC Veraflo Therapy system shows promise for treating acute infected or chronic wounds that are not healing. However there is not enough good-quality evidence to support the case for routine adoption in the NHS.
1.2 Research in the form of a randomised controlled trial is recommended to address uncertainties about the clinical benefits of VAC Veraflo (wound instillation with negative pressure therapy) compared with negative pressure wound therapy alone in the NHS.
Why the committee made these recommendations
Acute infected or chronic wounds are normally cleaned, dead or infected tissue removed, and dressed. Some wounds are treated with negative pressure therapy, which uses a pump to suck excess fluid from the wound. Chronic non-healing wounds usually need more advanced dressings.
The VAC Veraflo Therapy system uses a machine attached to a dressing that covers the wound. It uses negative pressure therapy, but also slowly introduces cleansing solution onto the wound bed (wound instillation therapy). The fluid stays for a time and then is slowly sucked away, along with wound and tissue fluid. This allows the wound to be repeatedly cleaned without needing to remove the dressing.
The clinical evidence for VAC Veraflo is mostly low quality. The best available evidence does not show any clinical benefit over standard negative pressure wound therapy. Also, that evidence is from the US, and does not reflect the way VAC Veraflo is used in the NHS.
Although there are potential benefits for patients and the NHS, more evidence is needed to be certain of VAC Veraflo's clinical and cost effectiveness compared with standard care in the NHS. Therefore NICE recommends further research.
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