Background and objective.

Success in the integration of partial thickness skin grafts does not depend on a single factor; one of the most important factors is the healing method performed on the skin graft.

For this reason, the objective of our study is to demonstrate the percentage of integration through a digital computer program of the partial thickness skin grafts that underwent occlusive healing with the use of the negative pressure system.

Methods.

Retrospective descriptive study. All patients with coverage defects, who had a wound with optimal granulation tissue to perform the partial thickness skin graft, were taken as a sample in the Plastic Surgery Service of the Reina Catalina Clinic in Barranquilla and Baranoa in Colombia, from January 1, 2019 to December 31 of the same year.

For this, the WoundPro® negative pressure system (Ї#x00a9;2020 Pensar Medical, LLC) was used and the integration of the grafts was digitally quantified throug an image processing program (ImageJ®) complemented with a computerized developer of the Systems Area of the Clinic to obtain a mathematical result that would allow, more objectively, to evaluate the integration of the graft.

Results.

Seventy patients were part of the study, the male gender was the most affected with 42 cases, the average age was 41.8 years. The most common etiology was burn (34%), the anatomical area with the highest incidence was the leg (27.7%) and the percentage integration average was 98.4%.

The negative pressure system was applied for 6 days, then it was removed and the photographic record was made; that image was used to calculate the integration. After the first cure, the patient was discharged and follow-up was performed on an outpatient basis, with a healing average of the grafted area of 17 days.

Conclusions.

In our experience, the use of the negative pressure system as an occlusive healing method in partial skin grafts has represented success rates greater than 98% in the integration of the grafts, which translates into a cost-effective treatment since it reduces the complications inherent to this procedure. Likewise, the mathematical calculation of the graft integration makes possible the specific evaluation and definition of the behavior in each case.

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