Experimental study of negative pressure wound therapy combined with platelet-rich fibrin for bone-exposed wounds.

Lay abstract Wounds with exposed bone are refractory, and are usually caused by mechanical trauma, burns, infections, pressure ulcers, diabetic illness and tumor resection. Surgery is the most effective way to cover such wounds. However, repairing defects with local or distal skin flaps can cause potential donor site damage. Skin grafting might be a simpler method, but the avascular interface of bone makes granulation tissue difficult to grow, thus transplanting skin on exposed bones is contraindicated. There is growing interest in identifying alternative treatment strategies. In this study, our goal is to use platelet-derived fibrin in combination with negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) to determine whether this combined strategy can achieve mesenchymal healing with granulation tissue to treat bone-exposed wounds. The results of wound healing in the NPWT and platelet-rich fibrin combined treatment group were better than those of other treatment groups. The combined treatment strategy of platelet-derived fibrin and NPWT can repair bone-exposed wounds effectively, accelerate wound healing and is a promising therapeutic option for bone-exposed wounds.