Comparison between artificial dermis with split‐thickness skin graft and full‐thickness skin graft for reconstruction of joint‐involved burn wounds: A retrospective review from a tertiary burn centre

Abstract

We aimed to compare the scar quality and recovery rate of joint activity for patients with joint-involved burn injuries receiving either artificial dermis (AD) with split-thickness skin graft (STSG) or full-thickness skin graft (FTSG) for reconstruction. The primary outcomes were %skin graft (SG) take. Secondary outcomes included complications such as the infection rate and donor site morbidity, 12-month scar quality evaluated using the Vancouver scar scale (VSS), recovery rate of joint activity and incidence of scar contracture requiring further revision. Twenty-eight patients between 1 August 2021, and 1 August 2023, were enrolled. Twelve patients received AD-STSG while the other 16 patients underwent FTSG for reconstruction. The median %SG take was 95.0% (interquartile range [IQR] 6.3%) and 96.0% (IQR 10.0%) for the AD-STSG and FTSG groups (p = 0.71). The FTSG group had significantly better 12-month scar quality (median VSS 4.0 [IQR 1.3] vs. 6.0 [IQR1.5], p < 0.01) and recovery rate of joint activity (median 82.5% [IQT 15.0%] vs. 70.0% [IQR 7.5%], p < 0.01) compared with AD-STSG group. However, two patients in the FTSG group (12.5%) suffered partial wound dehiscence of the donor site, whereas no patients experienced donor site morbidity in the AD-STSG group (p = 0.49). The incidence of scar contracture requiring further revision was 25.0% (3/12) in the AD-STSG group and 12.5% (2/16) in the FTSG group (p = 0.62). In conclusion, AD-STSG could be an alternative treatment over FTSG for larger joint-involved burn wounds (>200 cm²) owing to lesser donor site morbidity with admissible cosmetic outcomes and functional recovery.