Treatment of donor sites--calcium alginate versus paraffin gauze

In the surgery of burns a good healing of donor areas is essential. A controlled trial of 17 cases is presented. Mirror-image donor areas in the same patient were treated on one leg with a traditional dressing of paraffin gauze, Jelonet, on the other leg with Kaltostat, a calcium sodium alginate wound dressing. Healing time, haemostasis, ease and comfort with removal, dressings, infection and quality of the regenerated skin, were estimated. The Kaltostat dressing seemed to be superior due to the quality of the re-epithelialized donor site, the haemostatic quality and the ease and comfort with removal. There was a marginal profit in healing time.