500-Gray γ-Irradiation May Increase Adhesion Strength of Lyophilized Cadaveric Split-Thickness Skin Graft to Wound Bed
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Published on: August 8, 2020
Lin-Gwei Wei1, Chieh-Feng Chen, Chi-Hsien Wang
1From the *Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taoyuan Armed Forces General Hospital, Taoyuan; and †Department of Plastic Surgery, Wan Fang Municipal Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Background:
Human cadaveric skin grafts are considered as the "gold standard" for temporary wound coverage because they provide a more conductive environment for natural wound healing. Lyophilization, packing, and terminal sterilization with gamma-ray can facilitate the application of cadaveric split-thickness skin grafts, but may alter the adhesion properties of the grafts. In a pilot study, we found that 500 Gy γ-irradiation seemed not to reduce the adherence between the grafts and wound beds.
Aim And Objectives:
We conducted this experiment to compare the adherences of lyophilized, 500-Gy γ-irradiated skin grafts to that of lyophilized, nonirradiated grafts.
Materials And Methods:
Pairs of wounds were created over the backs of Sprague- Dawley rats. Pairs of "lyophilized, 500-Gy γ-irradiated" and "lyophilized, nonirradiated" cadaveric split-thickness skin grafts were fixed to the wound beds. Adhesion strength between the grafts and the wound beds was measured and compared.
Results:
On post-skin-graft day 7 and day 10, the adhesion strength of γ-irradiated grafts was greater than that of the nonirradiated grafts.
Conclusions:
Because lyophilized cadaveric skin grafts can be vascularized and the collagen of its dermal component can be remodeled after grafting, the superior adhesion strength of 500-Gy γ-irradiated grafts can be explained by the collagen changes from irradiation.
