Vacuum assisted wound dressing

Apr 21

Aim

Conflict-related trauma wound healing is often complicated by contamination, infection and delay of treatment and medical staff within the Ramtha project in Jordan has expressed the need for wound therapy alternatives that are more effective than the conventional wound dressing method currently used.

MSF’s Operational Center Amsterdam (OCA) conducts an emergency trauma project in Ar Ramtha, Jordan, less than five kilometers from the border with the Daraa governorate in Syria. A majority of patients within the project receive treatment for conflict-related traumatic wounds. Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) systems have been identified as an interesting potential alternative. But in order to test NPWT systems it is agreed that we should have an evidence-based approach in order to make sure that decisions that impact healthcare procedures, and thus have consequences for both medical staff work practices and patient wellbeing, are ultimately based on facts rather than assumptions. Today, there is limited evidence regarding the benefits/limitations with NPWT when it comes to trauma wounds, especially in contexts such as the Ramtha project (high amounts of patients with severe trauma wounds in a middle income country). So besides evaluating NPWT in itself, we also aim to see what specific challenges and constraints this specific context provides compared to resource strong contexts (infrastructure, education level, support and maintenance, etc.). In order to bridge this knowledge gap we have identified the Centre for Research on Healthcare in Disasters at Karolinska Institutet (KI) in Stockholm, Sweden, as partners. At the same time, we have identified local research partners at the Jordan University of Technology and Science that will help us in the process.

Status

INITIATION
Completed
Analyzing and assessing the current situation with regard to wound dressing together with the team in field, in order to fit the research study to existing realities they face in their daily work.

DEVELOPMENT
Completed
Preparing and setting up the study so that we can receive the patients, and so that we are prepared to face eventual difficulties throughout the project.

IMPLEMENTATION
Ongoing
Research study initiated with inclusion of patients since June 2015.