Background: Contour wounds that require skin graft closure
are frequently situated in unique or complicated anatomical
areas, making it difficult and inefficient to stabilize them
using traditional bolsters.
Objective: The aim of this work is to compare vacuumassisted
closure (VAC) with Conventional bolster dressing in
terms of graft take, histology of wound healing, hospitalization
duration, and expenses.
Patients and Methods: In the current study 62 patients were
reconstructed using a split thickness skin graft and supported by
a VAC (Group A n=31) or a traditional bolster dressing (Group < br />B n=31). The following characteristics were assessed in both
groups; operative time, hospital stay. Complications, graft take
as well as histological assessment of the skin.
Results: The mean age of the included patients in the current
study was 42.3±9.34 and 41.1±8.92 in group A and B respectively.
Post-operative complications showed statistically
significant seroma and hematoma in patients who received
conventional bolsters. The histopathological assessment
showed that the Hyperkeratosis, pigmentation, neovascularization,
collagen deposition and fibroblastic activity were more
evident in patients who used VAC (p < 0.001*).
Conclusion: VAC device is an effective methos for securing
split-thickness skin grafts in contoured wide raw area reconstruction
with minimal postoperative complications, better
healing and favorable aesthetic outcome.