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Published on: August 8, 2020
Efficacy of a Natural Topical Skin Ointment for Managing Split-Thickness Skin Graft Donor Sites: A Pilot Double-blind
Mohammad Saeed Abbasi1, Javad Rahmati, Amir Houshang Ehsani
1At the Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, Mohammad Saeed Abbasi, MD, is General Practitioner, Students' Scientific Research Center; Javad Rahmati, MD, is Professor of Plastic Surgery, Department of Plastic Surgery, Razi Hospital; Amir Houshang Ehsani, MD, is Professor of Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, Razi Hospital; Alireza Takzare, MD, is Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, Children's Medical Center, School of Medicine; Alireza Partoazar, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, Experimental Medicine Research Center; and Nasrin Takzaree, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Histology, Anatomy Department, School of Medicine. The authors have disclosed no financial relationships related to this article. Submitted August 4, 2019; accepted in revised form October 1, 2019.
Objective:
To evaluate the safety and efficacy of a new topical skin ointment with natural ingredients (aloe vera, honey, and peppermint) for dressing skin graft donor sites.
Design:
A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial.
Patients And Intervention:
Researchers enrolled patients who were referred for split-thickness skin graft after burns or surgical wounds on the scalp or face area. For each patient, a thin layer of skin (depth, 0.04 mm; approximate size, less than 15 × 7 cm) was harvested from the thigh by a plastic surgeon with an electric or manual dermatome. The donor sites were divided and randomized to receive either natural ointment or petroleum jelly as a topical agent to dressing. Topical agents were applied on donor site wounds on days 0, 4, 7, and 14.
Main Outcome Measures:
Wound size, pain, erythema, pruritus, patient discomfort, complications, and physician satisfaction were evaluated at each visit.
Main Results:
Among 28 patients, there was no significant difference between the two treatment agents regarding the rate of wound healing (P = .415), pain (P = .081), pruritus (P = .527), and patient discomfort (P = .616). The ointment was superior to petroleum jelly in reducing wound erythema (P = .001) and was associated with significantly better treatment satisfaction (P < .001).
Conclusions:
The natural topical ointment investigated in this study may be an acceptable alternative to petroleum jelly in caring for split-thickness donor skin graft donor site wounds to effectively promote wound healing, prevent infection and scarring, reduce pain, and comfort the patient.
