ABSTRACT
DEVELOPMENT OF NEGATIVE PRESSURE WOUND THERAPY The global burden of surgical disease is extensive, with an estimated 230 million major surgical procedures performed each year (1). Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) plays an important role in the global surgical landscape as it is an increasingly common dressing choice for acute and chronic surgical wounds. It has been used in a range of surgical problems, from open fractures and diabetic ulcers, to burns, necrotic fl aps, and skin grafts. Each year, there are an estimated 500,000 wounds treated with NPWT in the United States alone (2). At the global level, expenditures on NPWT were estimated at 1.6 billion dollars in 2009 with a projected increase to 3 billion dollars by 2016 (3).
