Incidence and factors associated with loss of skin grafts in burn patients

Background: Skin grafts are therapeutic alternatives to treat second and third-degree skin burns. Skin grafts are healthy tissues that are surgically removed from an area of the body and transplanted or attached to another. They are surgical procedures that are not exempt from complications and failures in integrating the grafted skin. In local literature, there is no report of the incidence or causes of skin graft loss. Methods: For 21 months, an observational, analytical, prospective study was carried out in which burned patients who were admitted to the University Hospital of Santander and were taken to management with skin grafts were included. Analysis of the cases in which there was a loss of skin grafts. Results: 203 patients were included in the study; we found an incidence of loss of skin grafts in burned patients of 11.3%, the risk factors identified were infection in the area of the skin grafts, the extent of burns greater than 25% of burned body surface area, the need for blood transfusions in the preoperative and immediate postoperative period, and as the last risk factor we find the need to graft special areas. Conclusion: The findings of the present study allow us to formulate strategies to optimize postoperative results and thus minimize the rate of skin graft loss in burned patients. Keywords: Burns, Burns epidemiology, Skin grafts, loss of skin grafts, Skin grafts complications