Figure 1. Analytic Framework

Figure 1 is an analytic framework that depicts the events that individuals experience while undergoing treatment with negative pressure wound therapy. The framework includes 5 headers: Patient Population of Interest, Treatment, Intermediate Outcome Measures, Patient-oriented Outcomes and Adverse Effects of Treatment. The headers are connected by arrows going from left to right which follow an individual as they go through the course of negative pressure wound therapy.

In the first frame, we have our patient population of interest, "patients with acute or chronic wounds". An arrow leads the patient to the treatment, a NPWT system.
The path then leads to a third and fourth frame, the outcomes of interest. First we list the intermediate outcome measures that will be evaluated to see if the treatment is effective. These Intermediate Outcome Measures are listed as "percent change in wound volume," "improved wound condition," and "time to 50% reduction of wound initial volume."

Next,we list Patient-Oriented Outcomes which include "time to complete wound closure," "percent of wounds completely healed," "rate of healing infected wounds," and "reduction in sepsis, edema, or amputation." Continuing down the list we include other outcomes important to patients such as "duration of treatment," "quality of life/satisfaction with treatment," and "survival." We also identify "facilitation of surgical closure" for those individuals who may only be receiving treatment to reduce the wound for later closure by skin graft or flap.

The path then leads to a list of adverse events that may occur due to the treatment procedure. Adverse events of interest include pain, bleeding, infection or bacterial load, mortality, and other complications which may be as minor as discomfort or as major as amputation.

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