Split Thickness Skin Graft Take and Microbiology Evaluation in Burned Patients

Early excision and partial skin graft is state-of-the-art in burns treatment. Otherwise, infection is cause of increased morbidity and mortality in burn patients, and its control is a major challenge also for skin graft integration. Wound and soft tissue infection rates are higher than microbiological diagnosis rates. This difference is related to moderate sensibility of cultures in general. Precise bacterial diagnostic and its susceptibility to specific antibiotics are prerequisite for adequate treatment of burn patients and skin graft integration.

PURPOSE: To evaluate partial skin graft integration in relation to microbiological analysis of wounds in burn patients.

METHODS: This project was approved at Ethics Committee at Federal University of São Paulo (1272/10). It will be a transversal, prospective, analytical, controlled study in humans, conducted in a single center, at Burn Care Unit of Department of Plastic Surgery at Federal University of São Paulo from October, 2010 to October, 2011. Thirty patients will be included in this study after reading and signing a consent form. Data will be collected using an evaluation sheet to characterize demographic and clinical aspects, including partial skin graft integration, use of topical and systemic antibiotics and infection rates in all sites (blood, urine, skin, tracheal aspirate and bronchial lavage). Data analysis will be performed using Student's t-test and Friedman analysis of variance.