Effect of early mobilisation after skin grafting to lower limbs

We undertook a prospective, randomised study of 50 consecutive patients admitted for split-thickness skin grafting to the lower extremities below the inguinal ligament. All types of wounds and skin defects were included. Postoperatively, 25 patients were randomised to early mobilisation and 25 were confined to bed for four days postoperatively. Otherwise the two groups were treated in exactly the same way. Fourteen days postoperatively the healing of the grafts was assessed by two nurses who did not know whether the patients had been mobilised early or late. The overall primary healing rate of the grafts in patients who had been mobilised early was 20/25 (80%), which did not differ from that among patients who were mobilised late (22/25) (88%). We therefore recommend early mobilisation for both economic and humanitarian reasons.