A comparative study of the uptake of skin graft between patients receiving negative pressure wound therapy/vacuum dressing and conventional petroleum jelly gauze dressing following split skin grafting

Abstract

NPWT is a novel method which has been developed to enhance wound healing. The suction therapy has shown by many studies to augment local blood flow by increasing the levels of mediators like IL 6, IL 8 and VEGF and enhancing neovascularization. Bearing these concepts in mind, NPWT following skin grafting has been advocated. The following study is a comparative study between graft uptake time and percentage of graft uptake among patients receiving NPWT following skin grafting and patients receiving conventional petroleum jelly dressing following split skin grafting. There was a statistically significant difference in the healing of the skin graft between the two groups. The patients receiving NPWT had their staples removed earlier and had a better uptake. There were similar results even after the subjects were stratified into diabetics, hypertensives and smokers.