Comparison of vacuum sealing drainage and conventional drainage for postoperative drainage in closed calcaneal fracture: A randomized controlled trial

•This study was the first time to compare the outcomes of vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) and conventional drainage after surgery in calcaneal fractures.•VSD group exhibited significantly more volume of drainage, longer duration of drainage, shorter time of wound drying, shorter time of skin fold, shorter time of wound healing and lower VAS at day 3 postoperatively compared with conventional group.•VSD group was demonstrated to have significantly lower wound complications and higher rate grade a of wound healing.•No significant difference was noted in time of fracture union, VAS and AOFAS score at final follow-up between the two groups.•VSD is a safe and effective postoperative wound drainage method in the treatment of calcaneal fracture. The objective of this study was to compare the outcomes of vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) and conventional drainage after surgery in the treatment of closed calcaneal fracture. We hypothesize that VSD is superior to conventional drainage in reducing volume of drainage, time of wound drying, time of skin fold, time of wound healing, VAS at day 3 postoperatively, wound complications and increasing wound healing grade. 120 patients with closed calcaneal fractures from January 2016 to December 2018 were enrolled in our study. They were divided randomly into VSD group (n = 60) and conventional (n = 60). The volume of drainage, duration of drainage, time of wound drying, time of skin fold, time of wound healing and VAS at day 3 postoperatively were recorded. Furthermore, the wound complications of the two groups were also evaluated. Besides, wound healing grade was used to assess the degree of wound healing. The functional outcome American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) hindfoot scores and visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores was also evaluated. A total of 10 patients were lost to follow-up for various reasons, VSD group remained 55 cases while conventional group remained 53 cases. Our results showed that VSD group exhibited significantly more volume of drainage (P< 0.0001), longer duration of drainage (P< 0.0001), shorter time of wound drying (P = 0.0086), shorter time of skin fold (P = 0.0158), shorter time of wound healing (P = 0.0240) and lower VAS at day 3 postoperatively (P = 0.0019) compared with conventional group. Moreover, VSD group was demonstrated to have significantly lower wound complications (P = 0.025) and higher rate grade A of wound healing (P = 0.031). However, no significant difference was noted in