NICE guidelines:
Updated Medical Technologies Guidance supports adoption of PICO sNPWT1
Manage the incision. Manage the outcome.
Nothing left to chance. PICO◊ sNPWT
PICO sNPWT is the only NPWT system supported by NICE for prophylactic treatment of SSIs across a range of surgical specialisms1 – based on up-to-date meta-analysis, reinforced by independent clinical data and real-world evidence.1–6
Discover the NEW NICE Medical Technologies Guidance (MTG43)
NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) offers evidence-based recommendations for the health and social care sector. These are developed by independent committees made up of professionals and lay members, with input from relevant stakeholders. NICE guidance helps NHS professionals make informed, cost-effective, and consistent decisions regarding the adoption of new medical technologies. It also promotes innovation, supports transformation, and enhances healthcare delivery 1.
In 2024, NICE reviewed the "Medical Technology Guidance 43" (Download NICE MTG43 PDF), which focuses on PICO negative pressure wound dressings for closed surgical incisions. The guidance highlights that Smith+Nephew’s PICO sNPWT delivers better clinical outcomes compared to standard dressings for patients at high risk of surgical site infections (SSIs), while maintaining similar overall costs 2.
As a result, it has reconfirmed its guidance following a review of an additional 28 papers published 2.
NICE Recommendations
Address the current burden of SSI
Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are an important public health problem.High-income countries have a lower incidence of SSI; however, in Europe and the USA, SSI is the second most common type of HAI.7
- Low and middle income countries - SSI incidence: 1/3 of surgical patient develop SSI. 7
- High income countries - SSI incidence:
- US : 2-5% of patients undergoing inpatient surgery 7
- Europe : varied from 0.6% in knee prosthesis surgery to 9.5% in open colon surgery, depending on the type of surgical procedure. 8
Although SSIs carry a substantial burden to health-care systems and service payers worldwide in terms of patient morbidity, mortality, and additional costs, SSIs are among the most preventable health-care-associated infections 11.
Identify your patient at high risk of SSI
For some high-risk patients, an SSI can become an obstacle to their recovery.Therefore, the identification of pre-operative risk factors for patients at elevated risk of surgical site complications, is important when considering the prophylactic use of PICO sNPWT.
The definition of a high-risk patient varies depending on the surgical specialty, however the experts at NICE advised that there were a number of factors associated with an increased risk of SSI including:
- Patient related factors such as age, obesity, cigarette smoking and diabetes…
- Procedure related factors such as repeated operations, emergency surgery…
Consider your patients’ risk factors and build your patients’ surgical site complication prevention plan with our online tool.
Reduce SSI odds by changing your practice!
PICO Single Use Negative Pressure Wound Therapy System (sNPWT) help prevent surgical site complications in high-risk patients with surgically closed incisions. 12,13
A systematic literature review and meta-analysis of 29 studies involving 5.614 patients undergoing surgery compared prophylactic use of PICO sNPWT with standard care showed:12,13
Compared with standard care, prophylactic use of PICO sNPWT in patients with surgical closed incisions, resulted in: 13