Efficacy of hydrosurgical debridement following MEEK microskin grafting in patients with massive burns: A retrospective study of a single center

Introduction One of the most common traumatic injuries, burn injuries lead to at least 180,000 deaths each year worldwide. Massive burns result in severe tissue loss and increase the rate of infection. Debridement with skin graft is the gold standard of treatments for massive burns. Retaining dermis tissue is the key to ensuring the survival of skin grafts and rapidly closing exposed tissues. Traditional debridement with Humby or Weck knife controls the depth of debridement until the dermis, but ensuring the accuracy of debridement is challenging. Hydrosurgery minimizes damage to uninjured tissues during the removal of necrotic tissues. A foot pedal is used to adjust debridement depth for precise debridement. To figure out the clinical advantages and risks of using hydrosurgery in treating massive burns, this study has been conducted. Method Forty-two patients with massive burns and total body surface area (TBSA) of > 30% were treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from May 2020 to January 2023. They underwent hydrosurgical debridement with MEEK microskin graft (n = 23) or tangential excision debridement with MEEK microskin graft (n = 19). Result No statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) in the following demographics were found between the two groups: age, weight, TBSA, deep-partial-thickness burn, gender, inhalation injury, shock, debridement area, and MEEK ratio. By contrast, statistically significant differences in per unit area of operation time, per unit area of operation spending, hospitalization cost, hospitalization duration, wound-healing time, skin graft survival, and scar quality were found between hydrosurgical debridement group with MEEK microskin graft and conventional debridement group with MEEK microskin graft. Conclusion The hydrosurgical debridement system showed better clinical effects for patients with massive burns.