Pinch grafting of chronic leg ulcers: a retrospective analysis of 104 patients with 169 ulcers.
OBJECTIVE
To compare healing rates of inpatients and outpatients with chronic leg ulcers treated with pinch grafting and to define which of these patients would benefit most from the therapy.


METHODS
This retrospective analysis reports the healing rates of 104 patients with 169 ulcers treated with pinch grafting during 1997-2007 at the Department of Dermatology, Tampere University Hospital.


RESULTS
These relate to 17 outpatients with 18 pinch-grafted ulcers and 95 inpatients with 151 ulcers. Nine ulcers (50%) in the outpatient and 95 (62.9%) in the inpatient group healed completely. Median healing times were five and eight weeks for the outpatient and inpatient groups respectively. For the sample as a whole, 61.5% of the ulcers healed.


CONCLUSIONS
This retrospective study found that pinch grafting is an efficient method of treating chronic leg ulcers, with an overall healing rate over 60%. Patients who complied with compression therapy were most likely to benefit from this therapy.
Hjerppe
A
A
Department of Dermatology, Tampere University Hospital and Medical School, University of Tampere, Finland. anna.hjerppe@pshp.fi
Sane
M
M
Huhtala
H
H
Vaalasti
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D047070:Bandages, Hydrocolloid; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007871:Leg Ulcer / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D053828:Stockings, Compression; D014945:Wound Healing