Revolutionizing wound care with Solventum™ V.A.C.® Peel and Place Dressing
Jun 30, 2026 | Read time: 5 min
For over three decades, V.A.C.® Therapy has served as a cornerstone in wound care. Clinicians around the world have used this technology to treat more than 11 million wounds. The therapy has a proven track record of preparing wound beds for closure, reducing edema and promoting granulation tissue formation. It has also been shown to reduce readmission risk and minimize reoperation, resulting in shorter hospital stays and fewer complications.1,2
Yet even the most established treatments leave room for improvement. Traditional dressings for negative pressure wound therapy often require a multi-step process. Clinicians must measure and cut foam, apply it to the wound bed and carefully seal it with a drape prior to connecting it to the therapy unit. This process takes time, requires specialized training and can cause discomfort for patients during frequent dressing changes.
At Solventum, we recognized these obstacles. We listened to healthcare providers who asked for an easier experience. The result of that collaboration is the Solventum™ V.A.C.® Peel and Place Dressing. This innovation is designed to simplify treatment, reduce application time and make advanced wound care more accessible for patients recovering at home by offering a longer time between dressing changes.
A new approach to therapeutic dressings
The development of the V.A.C.® Peel and Place Dressing represents a significant shift in how we approach negative pressure wound therapy. Our research and development teams set out to create a solution that could last up to seven days while remaining incredibly easy to use.
Kris Kieswetter, a senior director of research at Solventum, is an R&D champion for V.A.C.® Peel and Place and helped lead testing of the product in its early development. She notes that the new design simplifies the therapy by integrating many components into a single unit.
"It’s like making a GranuFoam dressing sandwich between the two layers of our hybrid drape and adding a contact layer,” Kieswetter explains. “We’ve expanded from just having a drape on the wound surface to a therapeutic dressing that engages the wound and surrounding tissue.”
The patented, all-in-one dressing features a multilayer design with a polyurethane manifolding core and a silicone-acrylate adhesive drape. This means clinicians no longer need to cut foam to fit the wound. You simply peel the backing and place the dressing directly over the wound and surrounding tissue.
Cindy Miller, RN, is Solventum’s chief of nursing and has spent decades educating clinicians on wound care since the origin of V.A.C.® Therapy more than 30 years ago. She views this development as one of the biggest game-changing innovations in the history of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT).
"V.A.C.® Peel and Place Dressing is flipping everything I've taught for 30 years to all these clinicians globally upside down," Miller says. "This is a very big advancement. The surprising thing is the simplicity of the application.”
Improving the patient and clinician experience
The simplified design translates to measurable benefits at the bedside. The application process averages less than two minutes. This makes it an ideal solution for clinicians across all skill levels.
Miller describes the ease of application in simple terms. "You just peel off the adhesive backing, and place it on the skin, covering the entire wound," she says.
Beyond saving time, the dressing is designed to help support the healing environment. In preclinical studies using a porcine model, the V.A.C.® Peel and Place Dressing promoted 2.4 times greater granulation in full-thickness excisional wounds than those treated with traditional foam and an interface layer.3
The dressing also addresses one of the most significant challenges in wound care, which is patient comfort. The integrated, perforated, non-adherent layer minimizes the risk of tissue ingrowth in the foam. In early clinical feedback, 10 out of 10 patients reported no pain on removal.4
One of the most profound impacts of this innovation is its ability to extend care beyond the hospital walls. Because the V.A.C.® Peel and Place Dressing can be worn for up to seven days, it can reduce the burden on both patients and healthcare systems.
This extended wear time can reduce dressing changes by up to 67% per week compared to traditional dressings.5 For patients recovering at home, this means fewer interruptions to their daily lives and a more comfortable healing process. For healthcare providers, this can translate to fewer home nursing visits and less time dedicated by nurses to these dressing changes.
Continuing a legacy of healthcare innovation
Solventum is committed to overcoming clinical challenges so that more patients may benefit from advanced therapies. The V.A.C.® Peel and Place Dressing is a prime example of how we listen to our stakeholders and design solutions with their needs in mind.
“In science, you always want to ask questions and learn,” said Kieswetter. “It's our responsibility to think about how we can do things better and faster and more efficiently so that we can help our customers.”
By simplifying the application process and enabling longer wear times, we are helping clinicians deliver better, smarter, safer treatment for wound healing.
1Page JC, Newsander B, Schwenke DC, Hansen M, Ferguson J. Retrospective analysis of negative pressure wound therapy in open foot wounds with significant soft tissue defects. Adv Skin Wound Care. 2004;17(7):354-364
2Law A L. Krebs B. Karnik B. Griffin L. Comparison of Healthcare Costs Associated With Patients Receiving Traditional Negative Pressure Wound Therapies in the Post Acute Setting. Cureus 12(11): e11790.
3Information contained within conducted animal studies has not been evaluated in humans.
4In-person survey (2020): Customer preference test of 10 users providing feedback about their experience in a hospital in Chile.
5Based on the V.A.C ® Peel and Place Dressing up to seven day wear time and the V.A.C.® Granufoam Dressing recommendation of dressing changes every two to three days.
Indication(s) For Use / Intended Use:
The 3M™ V.A.C.® Peel and Place Dressing is intended to be applied in an acute, extended, or home care setting where product application is conducted by or under the supervision of a qualified healthcare professional. It is an accessory to the 3M™ Negative Pressure Wound Therapy System.
When used on open wounds, the system is intended to create an environment that promotes wound healing by secondary or tertiary (delayed primary) intention by preparing the wound bed for closure, reducing edema, promoting granulation tissue formation and perfusion, and by removing exudate and infectious material. Open wound types include: chronic, acute, traumatic, subacute and dehisced wounds, partial thickness burns, ulcers (such as diabetic, pressure or venous insufficiency), flaps and grafts.
When used on closed surgical incisions, the 3M™ V.A.C.® Peel and Place Dressing is intended to manage the environment of surgical incisions that continue to drain following sutured or stapled closure by maintaining a closed environment and removing exudates via the application of negative pressure wound therapy.
See full indications for use and limitations at https://eifu.solventum.com?docid=8269.
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