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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Plast Surg 2017; 50(01): 043-049
DOI: 10.4103/ijps.IJPS_196_16
Original Article
Association of Plastic Surgeons of India

Role of customised negative-pressure wound therapy in the integration of split-thickness skin grafts: A randomised control study

Mir Mohsin
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, SKIMS, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
,
Haroon Rashid Zargar
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, SKIMS, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
,
Adil Hafeez Wani
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, SKIMS, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
,
Mohammad Inam Zaroo
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, SKIMS, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
,
Peerzada Umar Farooq Baba
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, SKIMS, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
,
Sheikh Adil Bashir
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, SKIMS, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
,
Altaf Rasool
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, SKIMS, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
,
Akram Hussain Bijli
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, SKIMS, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
05 July 2019 (online)

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ABSTRACT

Background: Split-thickness skin grafting (STSG) is a time-tested technique in wound cover, but many factors lead to suboptimal graft take. Role of custom-made negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is compared with conventional dress in the integration of STSG and its cost is compared with widely used commercially available NPWT. Materials and Methods: This is a parallel group randomised control study. Block randomisation of 100 patients into one of the two groups (NPWT vs. non-NPWT; 50 patients each) was done. Graft take/loss, length of hospital stay post-grafting, need for regrafting and cost of custom-made negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) dressings as compared to widely used commercially available NPWT were assessed. Results: Mean graft take in the NPWT group was 99.74% ± 0.73% compared to 88.52% ± 9.47% in the non-NPWT group (P = 0.004). None of the patients in the NPWT group required second coverage procedure as opposed to six cases in the non-NPWT group (P = 0.035). All the patients in the NPWT group were discharged within 4–9 days from the day of grafting. No major complication was encountered with the use of custom-made NPWT. Custom-made NPWT dressings were found to be 22 times cheaper than the widely used commercially available NPWT. Conclusions: Custom-made NPWT is a safe, simple and effective technique in the integration of STSG as compared to the conventional dressings. We have been able to reduce the financial burden on the patients as well as the hospital significantly while achieving results at par with other studies which have used commercially available NPWT.

KEY WORDS

Negative-pressure wound therapy - skin transplantation - wounds and injuries
 

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