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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: OBJECTIVE, METHODS, METHODS, METHODS, METHODS, RESULTS. Meshes: Adult, Bandages, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Dermatologic Surgical Procedures, Humans, Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy, Retrospective Studies, Skin Transplantation, Treatment Outcome, Wounds and Injuries.
user
Is increased Cost of Negative Pressure Dressings Justified for Split-Thickness Skin Grafting of Low-Risk Wounds? Context: (1) To determine whether negative pressure dressings (NPDs) are superior to conventional compressive dressings (CDs) for split-thickness skin grafts (STSGs) placed on healthy, low-risk wounds, (2) To determine the cost difference of NPDs versus that of CDs. Retrospective. Level I Trauma Center. One hundred ninety-five traumatic wounds treated with STSG. Patients were assigned outcomes based on postoperative documentation: completely healed, incompletely healed (small areas of graft necrosis), failed, or lost to follow-up. The costs associated with each dressing type were documented. Thirty five of 195 STSGs were lost to follow-up, leaving n = 120 STSG-NPD, n = 40 STSG-CD. Of the remaining 120 STSGs treated with NPD, 91 completely healed, 23 incompletely healed, and 6 failed. Of the 40 STSGs treated with a CD, 37 completely healed, 1 incompletely healed, and 2 failed. Patients treated with CDs had a higher likelihood of healing relative to those treated with the NPD (P = 0.018). Analyzing the outcomes as failed versus "not failed" revealed no significant difference between the groups (P = 1.00). There were more smokers in the CD group (P = 0.022). In this series, the mean cost associated with NPD compared with that of CD was $2370 more per patient.
assistant
There is a high rate of successful healing of STSGs for traumatic extremity wounds regardless of the dressing used. The increased cost of NPDs is not justified in wounds that are at a low risk of developing STSG failure. Final Decision: no