Cuantificación digital de integración de injertos de piel de espesor parcial ocluidos con sistema de presión negativa

Introduction and objective: Success in the integration of partial thickness skin grafts depends on many factors. One of the most important factor is the healing method performed on the skin graft. For this reason the objective of our study is to demonstrate the percentage of integration of the partial thickness skin injections that underwent occlusive healing with the use of the negative pressure system, through a digital computer program. Material and method The development of the research was carried out based on a retrospective descriptive study. All patients with coverage defects, who had a wound with optimal granulation tissue to perform the partial thickness skin graft, were taken as a sample in the plastic surgery service of the Reina Catalina Clinic in Barranquilla and Baranoa in Colombia, from January 1, 2019 to December 31 of the same year. For this, the WoundPro® negative pressure system (© 2020 Pensar Medical, LLC) was used and then, the integration of the grafts was digitally quantified, through an image processing program (ImageJ ), and was complemented with a computerized developer of the Systems area of the Clinic to obtain a mathematical result that would allow, more objectively, to evaluate the integration of the graft. The negative pressure system was applied for 6 days, then it was removed and the photographic record is made, that image was used for the calculation of integration, after the first cure the patient is discharged, a follow-up is performed on an outpatient basis, with a healing average of the grafted area of 17 days. Results 70 patients were part of the study, the male gender was the most affected with 42 cases, the average age was 41.8 years, the most common etiology was burn in 34%, the anatomical area with the highest incidence was the leg with 27.7% and the percentage integration average calculated with the digital computer program was 98.4%. Conclusion In our experience, the use of the negative pressure system as an occlusive healing method in partial skin grafts has represented success rates greater than 98% in the integration of the grafts, which translates into a cost-effective treatment since it reduces the complications inherent to this procedure. Likewise, the mathematical calculation of the graft integration makes possible the specific evaluation and definition of the behavior in each case.