The role of topical thrombin in skin grafting.

A prospective study to evaluate the efficacy of thrombin as a hemostatic agent in burn patients was conducted on 24 patients undergoing debridement and skin grafting. All patients also acted as their own control. Results showed a 43.5% reduction in bleeding on the thrombin-treated sites compared with the control sites. There was no adverse effect on the rate of wound healing from the thrombin, and no difference in the nature of the scar seen at the thrombin-treated site compared with the control site.