Standard Versus PICO Dressings in Lower-Extremity Bypass Patients

Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), over the past several years, has provided a way to post-operatively manage complex wounds. This is a therapy with potential to decrease rates of SSIs post-LE bypass. Unlike standard gauze dressings, negative pressure wound therapy provides a sealed, moist environment and shuttles fluid away from the wound. A suctioning unit applies even, negative pressure (typically -80 to -120 mmHg) and exudate is suctioned and collected in a control unit. The investigators would like to investigate the efficacy of PICO (Smith\&Nephew), a single-use one-step wound dressing which is effective for 7 days. It is lightweight and uses a small hand-held vacuum pump, both of which allow for ease of use. PICO has been FDA-approved.

Current standard-of-care dressings used to cover surgical wounds post-operatively.