1. The Use of Vacuum-Assisted Wound Closure Therapy in Thoracic Operations 
Shah S.S. Begum, MBChB, MS, Kostas Papagiannopoulos, MMED Thorax, MD (CTh) 
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery 
Volume 94, Issue 6, Pages (December 2012)
DOI: /j.athoracsur
Copyright © 2012 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions

2. Fig 1
The effect of vacuum-assisted closure therapy when used in conjunction with a thoracostomy. This man is a current smoker, known to have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and is currently taking steroids. He presented with a Streptococcus milleri empyema. After decortication, his lung failed to reexpand and he was left with a large complex pleural cavity. The vacuum-assisted closure therapy system was inserted on day 1 postoperatively. Images show progression of healing: (A) day 1, (B) 6 weeks, (C) 3 months, (D) 5 months, (E) 5.5 months, and (F) 6 months. The volume from the wound decreased dramatically, from 400 mL on day 1 to less than 100 mL in 6 weeks.
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery  , DOI: ( /j.athoracsur )
Copyright © 2012 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions