title: A new method of microskin autografting with a Vaseline-based moisture dressing on granulation tissue.
abstract: In the conventional method of microskin autografting, aggressive early excision is adopted, followed by coverage with a microskin-allograft complex to close extensive burn wounds. However, early excision is always associated with a defect of viable tissue, resulting in massive blood loss and causing high risk to aged patients or those with other systemic diseases. We developed a new method in which an eschar thinning operation was first adopted, followed by raising granulation tissue and microskin autografting, which was covered by a Vaseline-based moisture dressing. A total of 52 patients were included in this study and randomly assigned to the control group (n=26) and the experimental group (n=26) for the conventional method and the new method, respectively. The re-epithelisation rate on the 21st day after autografting indicated that there was no significant difference between both groups. There was also no significant difference between the two groups when the re-epithelialisation rate was compared with the type of organisms cultured. However, the Vancouver Burn Skin Score (VBSS) results demonstrated a significant improvement of cosmetic appearance in the experimental group (score=2.1) as compared to the control group (score=3.9). The new method also showed other advantages, including less blood loss, shorter surgical duration and lower cost of surgery. From this prospective study, it can be concluded that the new method can be an alternative to the conventional microskin autografting procedure.
authors.affiliation: Burn Center of Xi'an Ninth Hospital Affiliated to Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, PR China. Electronic address: xiaohouan2@163.com.
authors.forename: Houan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Burn Center of Xi'an Ninth Hospital Affiliated to Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, PR China.
authors.forename: Chongan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Burn Center of Xi'an Ninth Hospital Affiliated to Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaoqian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Center for Tissue Engineering, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, PR China.
authors.forename: Xuqiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Burn Center of Xi'an Ninth Hospital Affiliated to Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhouhu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Burn Center of Xi'an Ninth Hospital Affiliated to Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, PR China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Burn Center of Xi'an Ninth Hospital Affiliated to Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, PR China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Burn Center of Xi'an Ninth Hospital Affiliated to Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhenhua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Burn Center of Xi'an Ninth Hospital Affiliated to Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, PR China.
authors.forename: Hongzhao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: Burn Center of Xi'an Ninth Hospital Affiliated to Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, PR China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Burn Center of Xi'an Ninth Hospital Affiliated to Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, PR China.
authors.forename: Shuping
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Center for Tissue Engineering, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, PR China.
authors.forename: Yongjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001458:Bandages; D002056:Burns / Q000601:surgery*; D004643:Emollients / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006097:Granulation Tissue; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D061646:Operative Time; D010577:Petrolatum / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D062326:Re-Epithelialization; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D004643:Emollients; D010577:Petrolatum
keywords: Early excision; Granulation tissue; Microskin