ABOUT
Negative pressure wound therapy is used at nearly every stage of care for the threatened limb, yet it is most often taught as a single modality rather than as a sequence of decisions that unfold over a patient's course. This program follows the therapy along that course: from wound bed preparation after surgical debridement, through the management of infection and biofilm-associated osteomyelitis, through the assessment of candidacy and the recognition of failure, and into the outpatient and home settings where continuity of treatment most frequently breaks down.
Structured across four sessions and presented by a faculty of surgeons, podiatrists, infectious disease specialists, and wound care nurses, the program addresses indications, technique, and evidence alongside the situations in which the modality is not the appropriate answer.
EDUCATIONAL NEED
Clinicians managing the threatened limb encounter negative pressure wound therapy constantly, but the decisions surrounding it remain inconsistently taught. Uncertainty about timing and sequencing relative to definitive closure leads to therapy continued well past the point of benefit. The evidence base and limits of instillation therapy in infected wounds are unevenly understood. Perfusion assessment before initiation varies widely, particularly in the ischemic limb. And therapeutic failure is often recognized late, after healing time has already been lost.
The transition out of the inpatient setting is the least addressed of these gaps and among the most consequential. Therapy that was progressing well in hospital is frequently interrupted by gaps in discharge planning, caregiver capacity, monitoring, and coverage — contributing to prolonged healing, readmission, recurrent infection, and limb loss that earlier or better-coordinated decisions could have prevented.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After completing this activity, the participant should be better able to:
➢ Describe the role of negative pressure wound therapy in wound bed preparation and determine appropriate sequencing toward definitive closure.
➢ Evaluate the evidence, indications, and limits of instillation therapy in infected wounds and biofilm-associated osteomyelitis.
➢ Apply perfusion assessment and patient selection criteria, and recognize therapeutic failure early enough to change course.
➢ Identify the clinical and logistical requirements for continuing therapy safely beyond the inpatient setting.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
➢ Wound bed preparation following surgical debridement and minor amputation in the threatened limb
➢ Sequencing toward definitive closure — grafts, flaps, and skin substitutes
➢ Instillation therapy in infected wounds: evidence, indications, and technique
➢ Biofilm and osteomyelitis in the diabetic foot — where instillation fits, and where it does not
➢ Perfusion assessment and candidacy in the ischemic limb
➢ Recognizing therapeutic failure and selecting alternative treatment pathways
➢ Discharge planning and continuity of therapy across care settings
➢ Adherence, remote monitoring, coverage, and access in the home setting
This program is supported by an independent medical education grant from Solventum.
