Introduction: Lower extremity arthroplasty is one of the most common and most efficient surgical procedures. With growing numbers of these surgical procesures, there is also a growing complication rate, including surgical site infections and surgical wound complications. Wound complications are the main reason for prosthetic joint infection. Negative pressure wound therapy is a successful tool for preventing prosthetic joint infection. Purpose: The purpose of diploma work is to present negative pressure wound therapy following lower extremity arthroplasty, to present surgical wound complications and to show the effect of negative pressure wound therapy on complication rate in comparison with other dressings. Methods: Descriptive method was used. The literature search was conducted between February 2022 and April 2023. We studied the literature in Slovene and English language. With remote access from University of Ljubljana MedLine and ScienceDirect international databases were searched, as well as Pubmed and Google Scholar search engines were used. Results: Surgical site infection (deep and superficial), prosthetic joint infection, prolonged wound secretion, haematoma, seroma, wound dehiscence, blister formation, bruising, haemorrhage, hyperemia, necrosis and cellulitis were mentioned as surgical wound complications in studied literature. Some studies showed that negative pressure wound therapy is the reason for blister formation. Negative pressure wound therapy facilitates efficient wound healing. Complication rate and the incidence of surgical site infection was lower when negative pressure wound therapy was used. Discussion and conclusion: In diploma work we showed that the complication rate is lower in groups where negative pressure wound therapy was applied in contrast to groups where standard wound dressing was used. Lower complication rates lead to shorter hospitalisation and lower costs of hospitalisation. That is why negative pressure wound therapy should be applied to patients with predisposing factors for surgical wound complications, especially in obese patients.
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