Vacuum-assisted closure in the treatment of a 9-year-old child with severe and multiple dog bite injuries of the thorax

• Published in: The Annals of thoracic surgery Vol. 72; no. 4; pp. 1409 - 1410
• Main Authors: Brown, Karen M, Harper, Fiona V, Aston, William J, O’Keefe, Peter A, Cameron, Charles Robert
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.10.2001; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Bites and Stings - surgery; Child; Debridement; Dogs; Female; Humans; Medical sciences; Multiple Trauma - surgery; Occlusive Dressings; Pseudomonas Infections - surgery; Suction - instrumentation; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Surgery of the respiratory system; Thoracic Injuries - surgery; Vacuum; Wound Infection - surgery; Human; Fissipedia; Carnivora; Pneumothorax; Respiratory disease; Bite; Thorax; Trauma; Case study; Plasty; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Treatment; Surgery; Hemothorax; Vacuum aspiration; Pleural disease; Technique; Dog; Child
• ISSN: 0003-4975; 1552-6259
• DOI: 10.1016/S0003-4975(01)02844-2

The vacuum-assisted closure (VAC; KCI International, San Antonio, TX) device is a negative pressure dressing, which we have used in the treatment of wounds with devitalized or infected tissues. Although introduced in plastic and reconstructive surgery, its use has extended to orthopedic and cardiothoracic surgical practice in the treatment of infected joint replacement and sternal wound infections, respectively. Although the VAC is becoming more widely used in surgical practice, only a small number of case reports exist in addition to the original case series by Argenta and Morykwas in 1997. Previously, the device was described in treating single wounds in adult patients. We report a case where it was successfully used to treat multiple dog bite injuries in a 9-year-old child.