Incidence of Surgical Site Infection following Postoperative Application of a Novel Antimicrobial Wireless Electroceutical Wound Dressing to Canine TPLO Incisions: A Prospective, Double-blinded, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study

Introduction: Wireless electroceutical dressings (WED) have been shown to kill antimicrobial resistant bacteria. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of a WED for the prevention of surgical site infection (SSI) following canine TPLO surgery. It was hypothesized that patients treated with a WED would have a lower incidence of SSI compared with placebo.

Materials and Methods: Sixty dogs undergoing TPLO surgery were prospectively enrolled and randomly assigned to the treatment or placebo group. The treatment group had a WED, and the placebo group had a sterile dry gauze applied to their incision. Blinded incisional evaluation was performed at 5 to 7, 10 to 14, approximately 30, 60, and 90 days postoperatively and diagnosis of SSI made in accordance with U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Preventions SSI guidelines.

Results: The overall incidence of SSI was 6.6% (4/60). There were no SSIs diagnosed in the treatment group (0/30). There were four superficial SSIs diagnosed in the placebo group (4/30). There was a significant difference in the incidence of SSI between the treatment and placebo groups based on Chi-square analysis (p = 0.038).

Discussion/Conclusion: This study supports that the WED examined may reduce incidence of SSI compared with placebo. A major limitation is that this is a low-powered pilot study. The Results did not demonstrate an increased risk for infection and provides evidence to support the completion of a subsequent higher-powered study. In Conclusion, electroceuticals offer a potentially promising avenue for prevention of surgical site infection with reduced concerns for increasing the risk of antimicrobial resistance.

Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank Arthrex Inc. for supplying the JumpStart dressings and Energel hydrogel for completion of this study. The authors declare no financial or professional conflicts of interest regarding the conduction and reporting of Results of this study.

Publication History

Article published online:
26 October 2022