Wound Retraction System Fights Surgical Infections

An intuitive retraction system utilizes active cleansing technology to consistently and continuously clear harmful bacteria that may invade the incision during surgery.

The Prescient Surgical (San Carlos, CA, USA) CleanCision wound retraction and protection system is a sterile, single-use irrigating wound device that integrates surgical retraction, wound barrier protection, and fluid delivery and removal to protect against surgical site infections (SSIs). The wound barrier protection part is made of a flexible, double-walled sheath with an impermeable inner layer that protects wound edges from contamination. The same sheath provides integrated fluid delivery via gravitational feed to the wound edges through the permeable outer layer of the sheath.


The wound retraction component is formed by attaching the double-walled sheath to a fixed-diameter ring at the bottom, which is inserted into the abdominal cavity, and to an adjustable-diameter radial retraction ring at the top, which is designed to remain outside of the body and actuated to complete wound retraction. The excess irrigation fluid is removed through the bottom ring via connection to a standard vacuum suction mechanism. The CleanCision system has been approved by the U.S. Food and drug Administration (FDA).

“We are initially focusing on abdominal surgery and particularly colorectal surgery, where the risk, frequency, and severity of surgical site infection is high and the need is acute,” said Jonathan Coe, co-founder, president, and CEO of Prescient Surgical. “Our team collaborated closely with leading hospitals in abdominal surgery to create a technology platform and product that could be used in the full range of open and minimally invasive approaches utilized in their procedures.”

“While infection control workflow and processes steadily improve year after year, the tools and technologies that should aid those efforts simply haven't kept pace,” said Insoo Suh, MD, co-founder of Prescient Surgical. “A proactive approach to clearing contamination during surgery has the potential to better protect patients from infection, and help hospitals address the increased health care costs that result from surgical site infections, such as extended hospital stays, re-hospitalization, and rising infection rates that trigger penalties from CMS.”

SSIs are an important source, and may even be the most frequent healthcare-associated infection (HAI) after asymptomatic bacteriuria, representing a high burden on patients and hospitals in terms of morbidity, mortality, prolonged length of hospital stay, and additional costs. Each year, approximately 500,000 surgical patients develop SSIs.

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