Comparison of Normal Saline and Honey Dressing in Wound Preparation for Skin Grafting

摘要

Objective: To compare the continuously wet normal saline and honey gauze dressings in terms of cost of treatment, days required for wound preparation for skin grafting and graft take. Study Design: Quasi experimental. Place and Duration of Study: Plastic and Burn surgery unit, Mayo hospital, KEMU, Lahore from April to September 2009. Methodology: Sixty wounds with small patches of slough and pale granulation tissue requiring preparation for skin grafting were included and divided into two groups by simple random sampling. Wounds requiring mechanical debridement or gros-sly infected wounds, diabetics and patients with age > 60 years, Hb <10 g/dl and serum albumin level ≤ 3 g/dl were excluded. Time for wound preparation in days and cost of treatment in Pakistani rupees was noted. Split thickness skin grafts meshed to 1-1.5 were applied .Largest area of graft loss in both wounds was measured in two largest dimensions and noted in cm2. This was the end point of the study. Results: Average time for preparation in saline group was 10 days where as the average time in honey group was 27 days (p value = 0.02). Average area of graft loss in saline group and honey group was 2 cm2 and 3 cm2 respectively (p value = 0.67). In saline group average cost of treatment was 800 rupees as compared to 2400 rupees in honey group. Conclusion: Normal saline dressing is a hyperosmolar physiological dressing and prepares the wound faster than honey dressing at a low cost with quite satisfactory graft take. Key words: Normal saline, Honey, Dressing.