Epidermal graft accelerates the healing of acute wound: A Self-controlled Case Report

Abstract

Wound care represents a significant socioeconomic burden, with over half of chronic wounds taking up to a year to heal. Measures to accelerate wound healing are beneficial to patients and also reduce the cost and burden of wound management. Epidermal grafting (EG) is an emerging option for autologous skin grafting in the outpatient setting to improve wound healing. Although several case series have previously reported good clinical outcome with EG, the healing rate in comparison to conservative wound management is not known. In this report, we compare the weekly healing rate of 2 separate wounds in the same patient, one treated with EG and the other with dressings. The treated wound showed accelerated healing, with the healing rate being the highest at the first 2 weeks after EG. The average healing time of the treated wound was 40% faster compared with the control wound. EG accelerates healing of acute wounds, potentially reducing the healthcare cost and surgical burden.