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Page 6 of 7 Aggarwal et al. Plast Aesthet Res 2018;5:47 I http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2347-9264.2018.65

Figure 6. Fully epithelialized wound at day 14 (Patient S. No. 1)

Table 1. Demographic details of the patients and graft uptake on the specified post operative day

TBSA Wound Graft take Wound Wound
S. Area excised APRP Graft take at
No. Age Gender burn and grafted (%) used (mL) day 5 (%) epithelized at at day 7 epithelized at epithelized at
(%) day 7 (%) (%) day 10 (%) day 14 (%)
1 26 F 12% 6% 2 75% 70% 70% 90% 100%
2 35 M 15% 15% 3 90% 75% 90% 95% 100%
3 28 M 20% 15% 4 100% 84% 95% 95% 100%
4 40 F 16% 10% 4 85% 74% 80% 90% 100%
5 29 M 20% 10% 3 95% 85% 90% 100% 100%
6 22 M 18% 15% 3 70% 65% 70% 85% 100%
7 46 F 20% 8% 2 80% 55% 75% 80% 100%
8 42 F 16% 7% 3 90% 65% 85% 75% 100%
9 38 F 18% 12% 2 85% 70% 80% 90% 100%
10 26 M 12% 5% 4 95% 70% 75% 100% 100%
11 22 F 17% 6% 3 85% 60% 85% 70% 100%
12 36 F 15% 4% 2 75% 55% 90% 85% 100%

TBSA: total body surface area; APRP: autologous platelet rich plasma; F: female; M: male
that application of platelet-rich plasma for burn patients accelerates re-epithelization. In another study by
[10]
Choi et al. , the subcutaneous injection of platelet rich plasma in a rabbit skin flap was shown to promote
vasculogenesis and increase flap survival.

The study shows good graft take, no infections, a smooth post operative course and a faster rate of
epithelization. These findings can be attributed to the addition of application of APRP to the wound bed.
The serial follow up images of a patient (S. No. 1) are shown after tangential excision [Figure 2], placing the
split skin graft [Figure 3], graft inspection on day 5 [Figure 4], APRP being injected after debridement of the
necrosed graft [Figure 5] and after the wound was fully healed [Figure 6].

It should be noted, it is prudent to take APRP as the sole factor responsible for a good post operative
outcome following tangential excision and grafting. The importance of time tested burn strategies like
nutrition, effective nursing and maintainance of strict asepsis are of paramount importance. APRP is just an
adjunct which can be effective in improving the results.

Being a pilot study, this shows a lot of promise and further large multicenter trial is needed to substantiate
the same.