Smith & Nephew plc (LSE: SN, NYSE: SNN), the global medical technology business, announced that PICO, a single use, canister- free Negative Pressure Wound Therapy system has been named Most Innovative Product 2014 at the IMSTA medical technology awards in Dublin, Ireland. The award was judged by a panel of top clinicians, health service executives and medical companies.
Complications post-surgery can be devastating for the patient and costly for the hospital. It is estimated that complications can double the cost of the initial surgery. PICO is a new approach to help prevent complications post-surgery by applying negative pressure to the surgical incision in an easy to use, cost-effective format. One week’s therapy is less than half the cost of one hospital night’s stay and when you consider that a surgical site infection (SSI) can lead to an average additional 10 days in hospital1, then reducing these complications needs to be a priority.
To support the award submission, the team provided evidence of clinician and patient success stories with PICO. In addition to this they provided evidence of how PICO is aligned to the key clinical and financial objectives of the new hospital groups within Ireland. Two of the many key benefits highlighted were the ability of PICO to enable early discharge of patients from hospital2 and helping to prevent costly readmissions to hospitals following elective and emergency surgery3.
In a recent multicentre, randomised controlled trial4 comparing PICO with the standard postoperative treatment in patients undergoing bilateral breast reduction surgery, PICO has shown a statistically significant reduction of complications and a significant improvement in scar quality. The study was presented by Dr. Galiano and Prof. van der Hulst at the European Society of Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery Congress in July 2014, Edinburgh.
Many patients suffer in silence with wounds which never heal, such as pressure and venous leg ulcers. These are the real hidden costs in the community and PICO can be used on these patients to kick start the healing process. Research has shown that in a local population of 590,000 patients in the UK, there could be as many as 1644 patients suffering with a wound and 16% of these will have suffered with a wound for over one year5.
Sharon Wallace, Sales Director Ireland (pictured above) who collected the award on behalf of Smith & Nephew said “We are delighted that PICO has won this award as it is a fantastic product which really can have an impact on the clinical and health economic outcomes for patients, clinicians and payers.”
Smith & Nephew has been a leader in the wound care market for more than a century. The company employed clinician and patient feedback in the design of PICO to ensure the system met the needs of todays’ society. With its pocket sized, one-button pump and revolutionary dressing technology that manages fluid without a bulky canister, the PICO system represents a significant advancement for the clinician, payer and patient:
- For patients suffering in the community, PICO provides a new intervention for their chronic wounds which may have not healed for a long period of time.6
- For clinicians PICO has been proven to significantly reduce post-operative complications compared to standard dressings and it is well accepted by patients.2
- For the payer, the PICO system pays for itself by enabling early discharge of the patient, helping reduce readmissions and complications following surgery. 2, 3 All of which take resources away from the healthcare system which could be used to treat more patients.
PICO is cleared for use in hospital and homecare settings in the Europe, US, Canada, Japan and Australia.
Enquiries
Charles Reynolds
VP, Corporate Communications
charles.reynolds@smith-nephew.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 7401 7646
About Smith & Nephew
Smith & Nephew is a global medical technology business dedicated to helping healthcare professionals improve people's lives. With leadership positions in Orthopaedic Reconstruction, Advanced Wound Management, Sports Medicine and Trauma & Extremities, Smith & Nephew has around 14,000 employees and a presence in more than 90 countries. Annual sales in 2013 were more than $4.3 billion. Smith & Nephew is a member of the FTSE100 (LSE: SN, NYSE: SNN).
For more information about Smith & Nephew, please visit our corporate website www.smith-nephew.com, follow @SmithNephew plc on Twitter or visit SmithNephew plc on Facebook.com
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à Trademark of Smith & Nephew. Certain marks registered US Patent and Trademark Office. © Smith & Nephew October 2014 53408
For more information about the PICO system and the NPWT portfolio of products from Smith & Nephew, please visit Smithandnephew.com/wound. Clinicians and patients may also refer to the 24/7 Negative Pressure Wound Therapy hotline, 0800 9155394 (UK) and 1800 303 622 (Ireland).
References
- Jenks PJ et al. Clinical and economic burden of surgical site infection (SSI) and predicted financial consequences of elimination of SSI from an English hospital. Journal of Hospital Infection 86 (2014) 24-33
- Selvaggi et al. New advances in Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) for surgical wounds of patients affected with Crohn’s disease; Wound healing Surgical Technology International XXIV.
- Bullough et al. Changing woundcare protocols to reduce post-operative caesarean section infection and readmission, Wounds UK, Vol 10, No 1 2014.
- Galiano et al. The effects of a single use canister-free Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) System* on the prevention of postsurgical wound complications in patients undergoing bilateral breast reduction surgery. Poster presented at BAAPs conference, Sept 2014.
- Drew P et al. The cost of wound care for a local population in England. Int Wound J 2007;4:149–155
Hurd T et al. Evaluating the cost and benefits of innovations in chronic wound care products and practices; Ostomy Wound Management; June 2013