ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of hydrosurgery prepared with or without hydrogen peroxide for the management of subacute and chronic wounds.
METHODS: This is a retrospective study on patients with infected subacute and chronic wounds. The wounds were debrided using hydrosurgery prepared with (the study group) or without hydrogen peroxide before grafting the wound (the control group).
RESULTS: There were 60 patients in the study group and 70 patients in the control group. The hospital stay (mean, 7.83 [SD, 2.16] vs 9.86 [SD, 3.41] days; P < .001) and graft viability (mean, 3 [2-3] vs 2 [2-3]; P = .001) were significantly better in the study group than in the control group. The difference of hemoglobin levels after surgery was also significantly lower in the study group (0.1 [0-0.48] vs 0.45 [0-1]; P = .004).
CONCLUSIONS: Encouraging results were obtained with the use of the hydrosurgery system prepared with hydrogen peroxide for infected subacute and chronic wounds. This method decreased hospital stay and bleeding, thus providing better contact of the skin graft with the wound bed, allowing early rehabilitation. The findings of the authors' study need to be substantiated in large-scale randomized controlled trials.