Title: Normal Saline versus Honey Dressing in the Preparation for Skin Grafting
Abstract: Objective: To compare the continuously wet normal saline and honey gauze dressings in terms of days required for wound preparation for skin grafting and graft take. Material and Methods: The present study was a Quasi-experimental which was conducted in the Department of General Surgery, GEMS, Ragolu, Srikakulam Andhra Pradesh from January to November 2019. Methodology: Eighty wounds with small patches of slough and pale granulation tissue requiring preparation for skin grafting were included and divided into two groups by simple random sampling. Wounds requiring mechanical debridement or grossly infected wounds, diabetics, and patients with age > 60 years, Hb <10 g/dl, and serum albumin level ≤ 3 g/dl were excluded. Time for wound preparation in days was noted. Split thickness skin grafts meshed to 1-1.5 were applied. The largest area of graft loss in both wounds was measured in the two largest dimensions and noted in cm2. This was the endpoint of the study. Results: Average time for preparation in the saline group was 10 days whereas the average time in the honey group was 27 days. The average area of graft loss in the saline group and honey group was 2 cm2 and 3 cm2 respectively. Conclusion: Normal saline dressing is a hyperosmolar physiological dressing and prepares the wound faster than honey dressing at a low cost with quite satisfactory graft take.