Unusual donor site reactions to calcium alginate dressings

Calcium alginate dressings have been used as the standard dressing for split skin donor sites at the Women's and Children's Hospital burn unit for the last 12 yr. This method has proven satisfactory with good haemostasis, reliable healing, low infection rate and is well accepted by the children and nursing staff. We have recently had 5 cases with the unusual and unexplained phenomenon of dermal calcification in the donor site following the use of two new varieties of calcium alginate dressing.