A Clinical Trial to Assess the Efficacy
of Hydrocolloid versus Paraffin Gauze
Dressing for Split Thickness Skin Graft
Donor Site Treatment
72-75
Correspondence
Dr. Shaileshkumar M.E MS, Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Surgery, SN Medical College and HSK Hospital,
Bagalkot, Karnataka, India-587101,
Phone: 9986308914
E-mail: shaileshemmi@gmail.com
Introduction: In spite of newer advances, split thickness skin grafts (STSG) still have an important place in many areas of general and plastic surgery. Though the technique of skin grafting is more or less standardized, the treatment of the donor site differs greatly and has been a topic of debate. The management of split-thickness skin graft donor site is targeted towards promoting the healing process, while minimizing adverse effects and complications.
Objective: To compare the percentage of epithelialization achieved by Hydrocolloid in comparison to Standard meshed Paraffin gauze on the Split thickness donor site on 12th post operative day.
Design: Clinical control trial
Setting: H S K hospital, Bagalkot
Population: 30 adult patients requiring STSG for various etiologies between April 2011 to August 2011.
Materials and Methods: The study included 30 adult patients. Half of the skin graft donor site in the proximal thigh was dressed with Hydrocolloid dressings and the rest with Standard paraffin Gauze dressing. The extent of epithelialization achieved by each of these dressings was assessed on 12th post op day after skin grafting.
Results: The number of donor areas that achieved complete (100%) epithelialization on the 12th post operative day by Paraffin gauze dressing was 7 (23.3%), whereas Hydrocolloid dressing achieved complete epithelialization in 18 donor sites (60%) (P = 0.016).
Conclusion: Hydrocolloid dressings are superior to Standard meshed Paraffin gauze dressings in the treatment of Split thickness skin graft donor areas.