Dermis Graft for Wound Coverage: A Preliminary Report

The two major concerns in skin grafting are poor color match at the recipient site and donor site morbidity. To overcome the limitations of the classic skin graft, we have used dermis graft-deepithelialized split thickness skin graft-for coverage of small to medium sized wounds. The important aspects of this methods involve the immediate return of epidermis to the donor site to overcome donor site morbidity and restoration of the epidermis at the recipient site by neo epithelization from the adjacent skin. From April of 2001 to July of 2003, the dermis graft was applied to 32 patients. Simultaneously, the regular split thickness skin graft procedure was performed in 33 patients. We compared the healing time in all patients. The scar condition was also evaluated at 2 to 12 months after operation. The entire dermis grafts were reepithelialized in 15.5 days. The skin grafted wounds were healed by 11.8 days. Regarding the donor sites, donor sites of dermis graft healed within 7.5 days. On the contrary those of regular skin graft required 12.8 days. The donor sites of the dermis graft were also superior to those of skin graft in scar quality and patient satisfaction. The dermis graft technique for wound coverage compares favorably to regular skin graft technique in both recipient and donor sites aesthetically and functionally.