Treatment of donor sites--Duoderm or Omiderm?

In the search for a good temporary donor site dressing two synthetic products were compared in a randomized controlled clinical trial: Duoderm, a double layer dressing with an inner hydrocolloid polymer complex layer and an outer layer of polyurethane foam, impermeable to water and oxygen, and Omiderm, a hydrophilic polyurethane transparent membrane, permeable to water and oxygen. Sequence analysis showed that the trial could finish when eight patients had been treated. The Duoderm dressing resulted in solid re-epithelialization almost 3 days earlier than Omiderm, and it was more comfortable for the patients. Neither the Duoderm-treated nor the Omiderm-treated donor sites showed any signs of clinical infection. Due to fluid accumulation beneath the dressing during the first postoperative days the Duoderm dressing had to be changed more often than the Omiderm.