OBJECTIVEIntroducing a new technique for preventing the scar growthing in split thickness skin donor sites using the great sheets of epidermis covering.

METHODSThe donor sites of split thickness skin were grafting with the great sheets of the epidermis, of the thickness about 0.07 approximately 0.12 mm, harvested by electrical power dermatome and fixed the edges of the epidermal sheet with the verges of donor wound together using the nanoparticles-Ag-gauze stripes adding the sutures or skin stapler, dressing the wounds with the nanoparticles-Ag-gauze using the tie-over technique, left the dressing entire for a 5-day period.

RESULTSThis method were used in a total of 209 donor sites of both the split-thickness skin and epidermis for 133 reconstructed sites of 118 cases from November 1999 to November 2003, and the smooth, near normal skin appearance without scarring were obtained in the split thickness skin donor sites, and the epidermal donor sites healed good enough 5 days after surgery, and skin appearance is near normal in 3 months later.

CONCLUSIONSCovering the donor sites of split thickness skin with the large sheets of epidermis is an effective and useful method for preventing the scarring in the split thickness skin donor sites.