Alhindi Nawaf, Qari Sarah, Nukaly Houriah, Althagafi Abdullah, Alzolaibani Sarah, Akkour Mousa, Ahmed Kausar, Samandar Abdulaziz, Alsuhaim Abdulaziz, Banjer Hanin, Alali Feryal, Hobani Assal, Altala Abdulaziz, Alasfour Zainab, Arab Khalid
From the Saudi Ministry of Health, Rabigh, Saudi Arabia.
Faculty of Medicine, Ibn Sina Medical College, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. 2025 May 9;13(5):e6748. doi: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000006748. eCollection 2025 May.
BACKGROUND: More than 160,000 skin grafts are performed annually in approximately 1 out of every 3 burn hospitalizations individually because they are primarily simple and quick. This network meta-analysis aimed to compare different conventional dressing options based on re-epithelialization time and side effects for split-thickness skin graft donor sites. METHODS: As per preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis guidelines, a thorough systematic review and network meta-analysis were conducted. A comprehensive search was performed using MEDLINE, Cochrane, and Embase databases, and all publications published before August 2023 were included without time restrictions. RESULTS: This study performed a network meta-analysis of 25 unique randomized controlled trials published between 1983 and 2022. We found that alginate is the most often used, followed by paraffin gauze. Nonetheless, povidone-iodine-impregnated foam (Betafoam) was the most effective (90.4%), followed by hydrocolloid (87.9%). Petrolatum (73.5%) is associated with faster re-epithelialization than alginate (40.6%) and paraffin (18.1%). Cotton gauze ranked as the worst modality for skin graft donor-site dressing (3.9%). CONCLUSIONS: This study serves as a guide for the selection of proper dressing for patients undergoing partial-thickness skin graft harvest. Even though povidone-iodine-impregnated foam was the most effective, we recommend further research comparing other factors for selecting dressings, such as wound and patient characteristics, availability, and costs of dressings.
Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. 2025-5-9
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