title: Is there an easier way to autograft skin in chronic leg ulcers? 'Minced micrografts', a new technique.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic venous leg ulcers represent an urgent and increasing problem for public health. The use of skin autografts results in a greater therapeutic success in healing chronic ulcers.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  A simple method of skin autografting that could permit a wider use of skin grafts in outpatients is needed. A new technique allowing skin autografting in a simple one-step process, without complex surgical procedures or expensive technical supplies, is presented.
  
  
  METHODS
  A small, full-thickness skin specimen taken from the patient is finely minced and spread on his leg ulcer bed allowing to cover a surface many times wider than the sample itself.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This method induces faster re-epithelization of chronic leg ulcers that failed to heal despite good conservative local therapy and give the possibility to repair very large ulcers with small fragments of skin. A clinical case is shown as an example out of 20 ulcers we recently treated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our preliminary report shows that this technique results in a greater therapeutic success (18 of 20 cases) in healing chronic leg ulcers, a common pathology that often affects outpatients treated for very long periods at home or in the Dermatologist's office. In our experience, this new and successful reparative possibility makes 'mince grafting' a recommendable procedure.
authors.affiliation: Dermatologic Department, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy. pabog@libero.it
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boggio
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tiberio
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gattoni
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Colombo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leigheb
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007871:Leg Ulcer / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D014647:Varicose Ulcer / Q000601:surgery*