Skin Graft Donor Site Management in the Treatment of Burns and Hard-to-Heal Wounds

In brief

This World Union of Wound Healing Societies position document reports the conclusions of an international expert group that met in Seoul, South Korea, in March 2018 to set out best practice for managing the wound left where a skin graft is harvested (the donor site). It covers harvesting technique, risk factors for poor healing, management pathways, and the key properties of an ideal donor site dressing, with symptom management, patient comfort, long wear time and avoiding trauma at dressing changes as central priorities. The group agreed that donor sites should heal within 2 weeks, or within 3 weeks when conditions such as diabetes are present, and stresses patient education and the psychosocial impact of donor site wounds.

Co-chaired by Dr. Thomas Serena, SerenaGroup's founder.

Plain-language summary by SerenaGroup. See the full text for complete methods and results.