Introduction: This study investigates the quality of life among civilians with acute conflict-related extremity injuries sustained in Syria and Iraq, comparing Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) to standard treatment. Methods: Data were derived from a randomized controlled trial. Quality of life was assessed using the Self-Reporting Questionnaire 20 (SRQ-20) (range: 0–20) and the Wound-QoL (range: 4–7) questionnaires, with baseline and follow-up measurements. Statistical analyses compared NPWT to standard treatment, examining total scores as well as improvements. For the SRQ-20 results, the number of patients with a total score above the screening cut-off value was compared. For the Wound-QoL results, individual item responses were analyzed. Student’s t-test was used. Results: The median number of days between baseline and follow-up was eight (IQR: 4–21) for SRQ-20 and four (IQR: 4–7) for Wound-QoL. No differences were found between standard treatment and NPWT for the SRQ-20 scores at baseline or at follow-up, nor in the number of patients with scores above the screening cut-off value. For Wound QoL, patients receiving NPWT had better total scores at baseline than patients who received standard treatment (means of 10.3 vs. 13.1, 95% CI: 1.45–4.15), but there were no differences at follow-up (means of 7.2 vs. 7.4, 95% CI: -1.08–0.77). When comparing individual items at baseline, patients receiving NPWT had better scores on questions assessing unpleasant smell, poor sleep, and disturbing discharge compared to those receiving standard treatment, with mean differences of 0.45 (95% CI: 0.21–0.69), 0.65 (95% CI: 0.23–1.1), and 0.88 (95% CI: 0.69– 1.1), respectively. Conclusion: The results indicate that NPWT offers early benefits for symptoms of unpleasant smell, poor sleep, and discharge compared to standard treatment. However, these differences did not persist. The possible short-term gains in quality of life with NPWT should be weighed against the technique’s associated costs, especially in low-resource settings.
Älgå et al. (Sun,) studied this question.