Successful treatment of anterior tracheal necrosis after total thyroidectomy using vacuum-assisted closure therapy.

Total thyroidectomy involving the adjacent structures of the trachea can cause tracheal damage such as early tracheal necrosis. The authors describe the first case of anterior tracheal necrosis following total thyroidectomy treated using vacuum-assisted closure device. After two weeks of VAC therapy, there was no evidence of ongoing infection and the trachea was partially closed around a tracheotomy cannula, removed after 3 months. The use of a VAC therapy to reduce and close the tracheal rent and to create a rapid granulation tissue over tracheal structure appeared as a good opportunity after anterior tracheal necrosis.