Free soft tissue autografts. Hemostasis and protection of the palatal donor site with a microfibrillar collagen preparation.

The use of free soft tissue autograft procedures has been well established and documented. However, little attention has been devoted to the care of the donor site which most frequently consists of palatal mucosa. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the hemostasis and protection of the palatal donor site of free soft tissue autografts using a microfibrillar collagen hemostat preparation. Twenty healthy adult subjects were selected. Ten patients in the experimental group received the microfibrillar collagen hemostat as a dressing while the control group received a conventional dressing. The results demonstrated that 10 minutes after the split thickness mucosal grafts were removed, the mean volume of blood absorbed by the sampling technique was 0.96 ml in the treated wounds vs. 1.85 ml in the control. There were no apparent differences in the quality of healing or the pain perceived by the patients in the experimental and control groups. It was concluded that the microfibrillar collagen hemostat produced rapid and effective hemostasis and protected the denuded palatal donor sites obviating the need for a conventional periodontal dressing.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes