Skin grafting for donor site wounds in elderly patients

Skin grafting for donor site wounds in elderly patients

Skin grafting is a well-established procedure using skin or skin substitute to cover non-healing wounds or burns with the body's own tissue. Management of donor site wounds in high-risk patients is crucial and bears a challenge, especially in an ever-growing eldely patient cohort, adequate to better knowledge and material supply. This clinical trial compares two artificial foam dressings and a temporary artificial skin repalcement dressing for donor site wounds in elderly patients receiving split-thickess skin graft surgery. Major criteria in this patient cohort were pain management, re-epthelialization time, prevention of infection, functionality and patient satisfaction. The "ideal wound dressing" always depends upon the patients's individural demands and there are different focuses at particular points in time. We observed painlessless most important for patients immediately after surgery. Both dressing materials guaranteed a supportive and painless healing process with low intervention and thus meet requirements of an ideal dressing for high-risk patients best.