| Summary: | OBJECTIVES: To systematically review the efficacy and safety of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) for treatment of chronic wounds in the home setting. DATA SOURCES: On June 2014, we searched MEDLINE(r), Embase(r), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL(r)). REVIEW METHODS: Two independent reviewers screened search results. We included studies examining the use of NPWT in patients with chronic wounds, including venous leg ulcers, arterial leg ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers, and mixed etiology chronic wounds. We searched for comparative trials that followed subjects in the home setting. We extracted data into standardized forms and summarized results qualitatively. RESULTS: We retrieved 5,912 citations, and found seven studies which met our criteria for inclusion. Six of the studies compared NPWT devices to other wound care methods. One study compared two different NPWT devices. Data were limited by variability in the types of comparator groups, variable quality in study design, and limited reporting of outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: We were unable to draw conclusions about the efficacy or safety of NPWT for the treatment of chronic wounds in the home setting due to insufficient evidence. Though NPWT has been used across the wound care spectrum, significant research gaps remain. Standardization of wound care research protocols, such as providing consistency in comparator groups, robust randomized study designs, larger trials, and common definitions of outcomes, would be helpful in providing evidence to inform decisions about the use of NPWT.
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