AN ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT FOR THE SPLIT SKIN-GRAFT DONOR SITE

There are a variety of methods employed in the postoperative managemen t of the partial thickness donor site created during harvest of a spli t thickness skin graft. Each technique may be associated with potentia l complications of fluid loss, excessive pain, prolonged period for he aling and delayed mobility, hypertrophic scarring, undesirable pigment aesthetics, and thin skin poorly resistant to everyday trauma. Thomps on, and Converse and Robb-Smith have previously shown improved donor s ite outcome with the application of thin split skin grafts. Based on t hese studies, we present a technique that involves 1.5:1 meshing of a split skin graft and dividing it into equal halves so that one half is used to cover the defect and the other half is immediately returned t o the donor site. Patients who are elderly, debilitated, or who have t hin, poor-quality skin can expect less discomfort, reduction of fluid loss, improved durability and elasticity, and lower incidence of hyper trophic scarring with the proposed donor site regrafting.