Early Post-Operative Mobilization After Treatment of Burn Wounds with Autologous Skin Cell Suspension is Safe.

Standardized criteria for mobilization of the post-operative burn patient do not currently exist. Even the term "early mobilization" is not well defined. Use of autologous skin cell suspension (ASCS) with or without split-thickness skin grafts (STSG) has improved patient outcomes. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety of early post-operative mobilization, defined as mobilization with rehabilitation team within 48h of surgical treatment, in patients who were treated with ASCS and a polylactic acid dressing. This is a single-center, retrospective review over a 10-month period of patients who presented with deep partial thickness and full-thickness burns. All burn wounds included in the study underwent surgical treatment of their burns with ASCS or ASCS+STSG. After surgical treatment, any patients/areas with post-operative restrictions were noted. All patients without restrictions were allowed active and/or passive range of motion (AROM or PROM) of the treated area and out of bed (OOB) mobilization starting on POD0. In total, 29 patients were treated with 77 separate areas undergoing surgical treatment with ASCS or ASCS + STSG; 79% of these areas involved joints. All patients underwent either AROM or PROM with the burn therapy team by POD2. Of the wounds treated with ASCS alone, 5% required patch grafting, and no graft loss was noted in those treated with STSG+ASCS. This study serves as a proof of concept that early post-operative mobilization in burn patients undergoing grafting and ASCS is safe and is not associated with graft loss, including areas involving joints.