Healing at skin graft donor sites dressed with chitosan
Author
Stone, C. A.
Wright, H.
Clarke, T.
Powell, R.
Devaraj, V. S.
Date
2000-09-23Journal
British journal of plastic surgeryType
Clinical TrialPublisher
ElsevierDOI
10.1054/bjps.2000.3412Rights
Copyright 2000 The British Association of Plastic Surgeons.Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Chitosan is a derivative of chitin, extracted from the exoskeleton of lobsters, crabs and shrimps. As a semi-permeable biological dressing, it maintains a sterile wound exudate beneath a dry scab, preventing dehydration and contamination of the wound to optimise conditions for healing. In this study, evaluation of healing at split skin graft donor sites, dressed half with chitosan and half with a conventional dressing, showed that chitosan facilitated rapid wound re-epithelialisation and the regeneration of nerves within a vascular dermis. In addition, digital colour separation analysis of donor site scars demonstrated an earlier return to normal skin colour at chitosan-treated areas.