Purpose: Wound dressing is the last phase of any surgical intervention. The purpose is to isolate the surgical wound to reduce the risk of airborne contamination. In certain situations such as skin trauma, burns, acute or chronic loss of skin cover, or open fractures, wound dressings can however have a deleterious effect (maceration, adherence). Prevention of secondary infection of surgical wounds and spread of infection from septic patients is an integral part of our routine practice. We have developed a specific system useful in certain situations to isolate a septic or “at-risk” limb.

Material and methods: Our system is composed of a closed 100-cm polyvinyl chloride isolator measuring 40 cm in diameter. Two “absolute” filters allow internal ventilation with a variable flow filtered-air generator. Sterile products are introduced into the isolator via a shuttle chamber. With this system, the wound can be isolated without isolating the patient. We have used this system for more than 250 patients since 1986. A dedicated chart has been used to monitor results obtained with the system since 1993.

Results: The isolator was used for 258 patients, 185 men (71%), with 271 limb wounds on 227 lower limbs (83%) (63% legs and ankles). Half of the patients had open fractures associated with loss of skin cover. The clinical course was satisfactory in 75% of the patients (complete healing or complementary skin graft). The system was psychologically unacceptable for seven patients. There was only one case of a new germ isolated from a wound.

Conclusion: This dressing isolator requires a significant “logistic” investment but provides considerable bacteriological safety for difficult cases.