Surgical site infection is a common complication following surgery and is associated with high morbidity and healthcare costs. The chance of infection can be considerably reduced, however, by assessing patient and surgical risk factors, giving patients prophylactic antibiotics and applying negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT). Evidence has demonstrated that the use of NPWT reduces surgical site complications. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recently recommended the use of the PICO single use NPWT system for closed surgical incisions as it reduces the risks of surgical site infection and seroma.
