Mohammad Ashraf Ganatra, Sikander Bhura.
Management of skin graft donor site by irradiated amniotic membrane.
Pak J Surg Jan ;19(2):82-5.

This prospective, observational and experimental study was conducted on 30 cases in the Department of Plastic Surgery & Burns, Civil Hospital, Karachi from May 1997 to August 1998. Patients with three weeks post burn were selected for split skin grafting (SSG). Split skin grafts were always obtained by the first author. Half of the skin graft donor area was covered with irradiated human amniotic membrane and the other half by conventional vaseline gauze. Subsequent superficial dressings were done from 9-11 day, 11th day being the last day of the study. The results revealed that the mean healing time in the amniotic membrane group was 8.85 days while in the control group it was 10.21 days. This shows that the process of irradiation does not seem to impair the healing property of human amniotic membrane, rather irradiation makes it safe to use. Hence, in a developing country like ours where human amniotic membrane is easily available and cheap, its use on a mass scale as a dressing material is recommended.

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