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A Full Skin Defect Model to Evaluate Vascularization of Biomaterials In Vivo
Published on: August 28, 2014
Dermatome setting for autografts to cover INTEGRA
P Fang1, L H Engrav, N S Gibran
1University of Washington Burn Center at Harborview, Harborview Medical Center, 325 Ninth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104, USA.
The Journal of Burn Care & Rehabilitation
|September 28, 2002
Summary
Determining the optimal dermatome setting is crucial for successful skin grafting. A setting of 0.006 inches consistently yields useful ultrathin split-thickness grafts for dermal regeneration templates.
Area of Science:
- Regenerative Medicine
- Dermatology
- Wound Healing
Background:
- The INTEGRA Dermal Regeneration Template necessitates replacing its silastic layer with an autograft.
- Standard autografting procedures often result in unusable, shredded skin grafts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify the optimal dermatome setting for harvesting viable epidermal autografts.
- To improve the success rate of skin grafting procedures using dermal regeneration templates.
Main Methods:
- Verified dermatome settings using feeler gauges.
- Harvested skin grafts at various settings (0.002 to 0.012 inches).
- Histologically measured graft thickness and assessed usability.
Main Results:
- Dermatome settings demonstrated reasonable accuracy.
- Graft harvesting at 0.002 and 0.004 inches proved largely unsuccessful.
- Significant variability in histologic graft thickness was observed.
- A dermatome setting of 0.006 inches consistently produced usable grafts.
Conclusions:
- Ultrathin split-thickness grafting is a more appropriate term for the technique.
- A dermatome setting of 0.006 inches is recommended for harvesting viable grafts.
- Midcourse corrections during harvesting are necessary to achieve translucent grafts.
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