woundvac granufoam stuck on wound wont come off

[chapsticknurse]

Hello! I am a home health nurse and I was taking over a new patient just for today who needed a wound vac change to an abdominal wound.

I got most of the foam out but on the bottom of the wound bed , it is covered with a very thin layer of the foam and even with soaking it with NS, it will not come off! Apparently the vac wasnt changed since last week! (which is a whole other story )

I called my manager and a nurse at KCi and they stated to have the patient do wet to dry dressing TID until the next nursing visit in two days so hopefully the foam will loosen up and come off easier.

Anyone else have any ideas on how to take care of this? If not the patient will just have to go to md office.

[3PRN]

The foam must be removed before more granulation tissue develops so time is not on your side. The most accurate and least painful way to do this is with a pair of forceps. With wet to dry's you will also be removing the healthy tissue which your patient has worked very hard to grow. Pick it out, fiber by fiber.

With the next dressing, place a contact layer (Mepitel, Triact, adaptic, etc.)

beneath the foam. Your patient will thank you for it!