NPWT and Collagen matrices study

First of its kind study shows promising results for combined use of negative pressure wound therapy and AROA’s EndoformTM High Flow.

Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) – a therapeutic technique utilizing a suction pump, tubing, and a dressing to promote healing in complex wounds, has become widely adopted into the clinical practice of wound care in recent years.

NPWT has been shown to aid wound healing by improving blood flow, removing excess fluid, and decreasing infections, and is often used in conjunction with collagen-based matrix technologies, such as AROA’s Endoform™.

When the two technologies are used together, positive healing outcomes have been described for various wound types, but until recently, there have been no published studies aimed at understanding the impact on pressure delivery when placing a collagen-based matrix under a NPWT system.

In the February 2023 issue of “The Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials”, AROA’s peer-reviewed study entitled “Influence of advanced wound matrices on observed vacuum pressure during simulated negative pressure wound therapy” [1] was published.

The first of its kind study investigated changes in the observed vacuum pressure when collagen matrices were used with NPWT.

Specific vacuum pressures are selected by a healthcare professional based on what they aim to achieve clinically. The findings of the study demonstrated that some collagen-based matrices can significantly reduce the expected vacuum pressure, and therefore could potentially reduce the therapeutic effectiveness of NPWT.

Thoughtfully designed matrices, for use in conjunction with NPWT, can mitigate this risk. For example, the study showed that Endoform (High Flow format) devices are compatible with NPWT and were unobstructive to the delivered vacuum pressure, thus providing the potential for better healing outcomes.

The full study is available to read here


[1] Veale RWF, Kollmetz T, Taghavi N, Duston-Fursman CG, Beeson MT, Asefi D, Chittock HD, Vikranth AS, Dowling SG, Dempsey SG, Rose HJ, Mason ITT, May BCH. Influence of advanced wound matrices on observed vacuum pressure during simulated negative pressure wound therapy. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2023 Feb;138:105620. AROA sponsored study.