Smith & Nephew Inc’s announced the US launch of its next Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) product, the new RENASYS GO, designed to address the needs of clinicians and their active, mobile patients. With the recently launched RENASYS EZ, Smith & Nephew offers NPWT devices for the continuum of wound care. The US Food and Drug Administration recently cleared the RENASYS GO system and it will be available in March 2009. Smith & Nephew designed the RENASYS GO system to maintain the patient’s dignity at home on the go, in long-term care or any environment where the active, mobile patient must be compliant with NWPT to promote wound healing. The RENASYS GO is intuitive, lightweight, portable and quiet and can be used with the RENASYS-F foam and RENASYS-G gauze wound interfaces, the broadest selection of interfaces available from a single supplier. This enables clinicians to tailor NPWT to meet their patients’ unique needs and the specific requirements of their wounds, with clear improvements in patient comfort, ease of use, and cost-effectiveness. “Smith & Nephew understands that in the more ambulatory wound care environments, ease of use and cost effectiveness is paramount,” said Joe Woody, President Smith & Nephew Advanced Wound Management. “That’s why we designed the RENASYS GO to be easy for the caregiver to use, simple for the patient to manage, and compatible with our new RENASYS-F foam dressings as well as RENASYS-G gauze kits, which can be more cost-effective.” Southern Ontario-based Nursing Practice Solutions Inc. conducted a study in Canada comparing average total costs required to treat patients with conventional dressings to the same costs required to treat patients with gauze- and foam-based NPWT, in cases for which NPWT was appropriate. The study found that the cost-per-patient treated with NPWT was 55% less than the cost-per-patient treated with conventional dressings, and that wounds treated with NPWT healed more quickly than wounds treated with conventional dressings. Among patients treated with NPWT, there was no difference in healing times between wounds dressed with foam and those dressed with gauze. Mr. Woody added, “By providing clinicians with greater choice in NPWT, we believe that we can drive greater clinical innovation and research, improved patient outcomes, and greater value for healthcare organizations.” In addition to its small, easy to carry footprint and quiet operation, Smith & Nephew designed RENASYS GO with the additional features customers want to support the patient’s dignity and facilitate its ease of use. • It is lightweight weighing less than three pounds and comes with an attractive, discrete carrying case. • The frosted 300cc canister minimizes the visibility of exudate. • Multiple alarms and the patient lock-out feature enhance patient safety. • An extended, 20-hour battery life and less than four-hour charge-up time extend mobility. • User-friendly digital settings reduce the risk of error. “Wound care patients deserve discretion and mobility,” said Robin Carlstein, Senior Vice President of Advanced Wound Devices at Smith & Nephew. “We designed the RENASYS GO to provide patients with the flexibility to return to their routines without sacrificing the quality of therapy needed to promote wound healing. In its stylish carrying pouch, RENASYS GO is a discrete and elegant solution for active wound care patients. ”