Mohsin M, Zargar HR, Wani AH, Zaroo MI, Baba PUF, Bashir SA, Rasool A, Bijli AH, et al.
Indian journal of plastic surgery : official publication of the Association of Plastic Surgeons.... Date of publication 2017 Jan 1;volume 50(1):43-49.
1. Indian J Plast Surg. 2017 Jan-Apr;50(1):43-49. doi: 10.4103/ijps.IJPS_196_16.
Role of customised negative-pressure wound therapy in the integration of
split-thickness skin grafts: A randomised control study.
Mohsin M(1), Zargar HR(1), Wani AH(1), Zaroo MI(1), Baba PUF(1), Bashir SA(1),
Rasool A(1), Bijli AH(1).
Author information:
(1)Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, SKIMS, Srinagar, Jammu and
Kashmir, India.
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.
DOI: 10.4103/ijps.IJPS_196_16
PMCID: PMC5469234
PMID: 28615809
Conflict of interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest.
