Innovative technique using heterogenous collagen and intermingled autologous split-thickness skin graft for coverage of raw areas in deep burns with paucity of donor site as a life-saving measure

Burns injuries are extremely complex and elicit physiological and metabolic interactions involving all major organ systems. These pathological changes occur in a time dependent manner. In the last decades, burn care has improved, so the trend in the current treatment extends beyond the preservation of life. Thus, ultimate goal is complete rehabilitation of the burn victims. To investigate the effectiveness of the use of heterogenous collagen and intermingled autologous split-thickness skin for early coverage of raw areas in deep burns with paucity of donorsite as a life saving measure. A total of 10 subjects between the age group of 5 to 30 years (mean age 22 years) who sustained deep burns with total burn area from 60% to 80% (mean 72 %) and full thickness burn from 40% to 50% (mean 44 %) were treated with collagen and autologous split thickness graft sheets. Complete wound epithelialization took between 30 to 50 days.Rejection of collagen within 5 days was observed in only 1 out of 10 subjects and 2 subjects demonstrated incomplete epithelialization. A total of 9 out of 10 patients survived and 1 patient expereienced death due to an acute rejection reaction. The combination of collagen andsplit thickness skin grafting is an effective method to cover the wounds and achieved satisfactory healing pattern, a minimal rejection phenomenon and good survival rates. Moreover, it can be efficient as a life saving measure in deep burns with few donor areas available for grafting specially for developing and third world nations where expensive facilities like CEA are not feasible. © Springer-Verlag 2010.