IMMEDIATE SPLIT-THICKNESS AUTOGENOUS SKIN GRAFTS IN THE DONKEY

Document Type : Research article

Author

Abstract

Six immediate split thickness meshed skin grafts were app < /strong>lied to fresh surgically created wounds on the metacarpal or metatarsal regions of six donkeys. The skin transplants were approximately two-thirds the thick ness of the skin of each donkey. Donar skin was harvested from the lateral aspect of the neck. At 14 days, acceptance of the grafts was generally excellent (5 out of 6 grafts). Five wounds had 80% or greater "take" and one wound had 25% take. Poor acceptance in this wound was attributed to infection.
Three donkeys with equine sarcoid were treated with radical surgical excision and immediate split-thickness skin grafts. At 14 days graft take ranged from 50 to 100%, and the epithelial coverage attained resulted in an early functional repair. In no instance was there a recurrence of the sarcoid.