Negative Pressure Therapy Postabdominal Body Contouring in Bariatric Surgery Patients.

[BACKGROUND] The primary aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Incisional Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (iNPWT) on surgical site complication rates for abdominal body contouring following bariatric surgery that resulted in massive weight loss.

[METHODS] A large 15-hospital retrospective case-control study was conducted. Inclusion criteria consisted of nonsmokers who achieved massive weight loss, defined as >100 lb or >50% excess body weight, and had an abdominal body contouring surgery between January 2021 and June 2024. We conducted separate unadjusted analyses comparing the iNPWT cohort to the control cohort using separate chi-square or Fisher exact tests for categorical variables, and independent samples t tests or Mann-Whitney rank sums tests for normally distributed and skewed continuous variables, respectively. Statistical significance was set to P = 0.05.

[RESULTS] Basic demographics were similar for a majority of the variables between the iNPWT cohort and the standard cohort. Minor wound complications following abdominal body contouring surgery did not significantly differ between the standard and iNPWT (40.54% vs 36.36%, P = 0.070) cohorts. However, among major wound complications, rates of wound dehiscence (22.97% vs 2.27%, P = 0.003) and infection (21.62% vs 6.82%, P = 0.040) were significantly lower in the iNPWT cohort. There was no significant difference in hematoma or seroma formation between the 2 groups.

[CONCLUSION] Given the high volume of patients undergoing abdominal body contouring surgery following bariatric surgery, iNPWT dressings can provide plastic surgeons with an adjunct to further reduce the incidence of wound dehiscence and wound infection.