First Aid for Skin Tears by Mini Patch Grafting from the Flap Edge

• Published in: The Journal of emergency medicine 2018-04, Vol.54 (4), p.514-515
• Main Authors: Ikeda, Isamu, Igata, Toshikatsu, Ihn, Hironobu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anesthetics, Local - therapeutic use; Epinephrine - therapeutic use; First Aid - methods; first-aid treatment: dystrophic skin; Humans; patch skin grafting; Skin - injuries; skin tear; Skin Transplantation - methods; Skin Transplantation - standards; Soft Tissue Injuries - surgery; Surgical Tape - standards; Surgical Tape - trends; traumatic graft; Vasoconstrictor Agents - therapeutic use; Wound Healing
• ISSN: 0736-4679; 2352-5029
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2017.12.017

Traumatic skin tears often occur in patients with dystrophic skin. Closing them with adhesive skin closures is useful for patients with a healthy flap, but occasionally fails to cover the entire defect. We describe a simple technique to perform mini patch grafting on the remaining raw surface without damaging healthy skin. The skin flap is spread out and fixed with adhesive skin strips to minimize defects first. Small pieces of skin are obtained by trimming the edges of the skin flap with curved tip scissors. They are placed on the defect with free spaces of 3 to 5 mm between each of the grafts. Then the whole wound is covered with a dressing and gauze pads. Healing of the ulcer could be markedly promoted with little enlargement of the skin defect. Small pieces of skin trimmed out from the edge of skin flap can be used as a mini patch graft that remarkably enhances healing of remaining open surface.