Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN) said today that it has launched its PICO 7Y single-use, negative-pressure wound therapy system (sNPWT) with Airlock technology in the United States.
PICO7Y is the first PICO sNPWT pump to include an integrated Y connector, enabling the use of two dressings concurrently from one pump, allowing for two wounds or incisions to be addressed simultaneously such as following breast surgery, according to the company. PICO 7Y is appropriate for use on a variety of wound types, such as closed surgical incisions, chronic and acute wounds, Smith & Nephew added. It also includes a check-dressing indicator, which is intended to reduce unnecessary dressing changes and waste, and is 23% quieter than the first-generation PICO, making it less intrusive for patients, the company said.
The PICO sNPWT dressing includes a proprietary Airlock technology layer designed to uniformly and consistently deliver sufficient NPWT across a surgical incision and the surrounding zone of injury. This feature is designed to help reduce the risk of wound complications by reducing post-operative fluid and tension around a closed surgical incision, when compared with standard dressings. The combination of these actions helps reduce the risk of surgical wound dehiscence and surgical site infections, the two most common surgical site complications, the company said.
In a 2017 meta-analysis of 16 studies comprising more than 2,000 incisions across multiple surgical specialties, prophylactic use of PICO on closed surgical incisions significantly reduced surgical site infections by 58%, length of hospital stay by half a day and wound dehiscence by 26.4% as compared to standard of care.
“PICO 7Y is the latest addition to the PICO family of sNPWT products, which have revolutionized the use of negative pressure wound therapy by making a treatment, previously predominantly used in a hospital inpatient setting, available to a wider range of outpatients in a cost-effective, portable solution,” said Ryan Frank, Smith & Nephew’s VP of U.S. marketing for advanced wound management, in a news release. “With breast surgical procedures becoming more frequent, increasingly complex, and with more women at high risk of breast cancer choosing to undergo risk-reducing surgery such as bilateral prophylactic mastectomy, PICO 7Y is improving the delivery of therapy for what is currently an unmet need.”
PICO sNPWT has been the subject of with 103 published papers, of which 21 are published randomized clinical trials and 65 are unique clinical studies, the company said.
