Skin grafting and topical application of platelet gel in the treatment of vascular lower extremity ulcers.

AIM: Chronic wounds of lower limbs are a significant issue for physicians and specialists across a wide variety of disciplines. These chronic wounds are result primarily from chronic venous insufficiency, arterial disease, diabetes. When a chronic wounds fail to heal within six weeks after appropriate treatment skin grafting procedure may be considered. Aim of this study was to provide evidence of the use of local platelet gel (PG) in order to enhance healing time after skin grafting procedure. METHODS: A total of 162 patients (69 males, 93 females) with lower limbs ulcers (venous, arterial, diabetic) with a duration of more than six weeks were recruited in order to undergo autologous skin grafting procedure. RESULTS: Patients were randomized in two groups: Group A (87 patients) which received also local PG as adjuvant treatment and Group B (75 patients) which did not receive PG adjuvant treatment. In our study the use of local PG, in Group A patients, enhanced the engraftment of autologous skin grafts respect to patients of Group B. CONCLUSION: The use of PG in skin grafting seems to be an effective and safe tool in order to speed up the healing rate of difficult-to-treat ulcers.