ABSTRACT
To assess the utility of medium thickness plantar skin grafts in palmar defects. Case series. Department of Plastic Surgery Combined Military Hospital, Peshawar, from January 2006 to February 2009. Total 16 patients with palmar defects resulting from post-burn contractures, syndactyly release and tumor resection were included. All patients were treated with release of contractures and excision of scar tissue. Post release the palmar defects were covered primarily using medium thickness plantar skin graft from foot instep. First dressing was changed after two weeks with advice to splint the fingers for six months. Donor site was covered with calcium sodium alginate dressing which was removed after two weeks. Graft was assessed with regards to rate of graft take, colour and texture match, recurrence of contracture, mobility of the graft and the nature of donor site healing. All the patients operated had a complete take of the medium thickness plantar skin grafts, which were judged by their epithelialisation. The color match and the texture match were excellent. Three patients had mild infection at recipient site which healed with debridement and dressings. Hypertrophic scarring and mild hyper pigmentation at the donor site was seen in 4 cases but ultimately all wounds healed completely by the end of three months. In our study the excellent color, texture match and the functional advantages offered by the medium thickness plantar graft far exceeded the expected outcome of conventional techniques