TY - JOUR
T1 - The Meek micrograft technique for burns; review on its outcomes
T2 - Searching for the superior skin grafting technique
AU - Rijpma, Danielle
AU - Claes, Karel
AU - Hoeksema, Henk
AU - de Decker, Ignace
AU - Verbelen, Jozef
AU - Monstrey, Stan
AU - Pijpe, Anouk
AU - van Zuijlen, Paul
AU - Meij-de Vries, Annebeth
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Elsevier Ltd and International Society of Burns Injuries
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - Introduction: Autologous split thickness skin grafting is the standard-of-care for the majority of deep dermal and full thickness burns: Meshed grafting is most commonly used. Patients with extensive burn injuries have limited donor site availability. Meek micrografting is a well-known technique to enable larger expansions. A review was conducted on the outcomes of the Meek micrograft technique. Method: A database search in PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar and the Cochrane Library was conducted from the first Meek micrografting report in 1958 until 2021, including terms ‘burns’, ‘micrografting’ and/or ‘Meek’. Original papers reporting outcomes of Meek micrografting were included. Results: 1529 papers were identified and eventually 15 articles were included, the majority classified as poor quality according to Chambers criteria. 310 patients with 56% mean TBSA were described. Weighted averages were calculated for ‘graft take’ 82 ± 7%, ‘time to wound closure’ 53 ± 20 days and ‘length of hospital stay’ 61 ± 31 days. Scar quality was minimally described and often poorly assessed. Limited data were available on outcomes ‘donor site size’, ‘number of operations’, ‘cost effectiveness’ and ‘bacterial load/wound infection rate’. Conclusion: Overall poor study quality and the specific lack of data on scar quality, made it impossible to draw conclusions on the outcomes of Meek micrografting. A randomized controlled trial is required to further investigate the performance of the Meek micrograft technique.
AB - Introduction: Autologous split thickness skin grafting is the standard-of-care for the majority of deep dermal and full thickness burns: Meshed grafting is most commonly used. Patients with extensive burn injuries have limited donor site availability. Meek micrografting is a well-known technique to enable larger expansions. A review was conducted on the outcomes of the Meek micrograft technique. Method: A database search in PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar and the Cochrane Library was conducted from the first Meek micrografting report in 1958 until 2021, including terms ‘burns’, ‘micrografting’ and/or ‘Meek’. Original papers reporting outcomes of Meek micrografting were included. Results: 1529 papers were identified and eventually 15 articles were included, the majority classified as poor quality according to Chambers criteria. 310 patients with 56% mean TBSA were described. Weighted averages were calculated for ‘graft take’ 82 ± 7%, ‘time to wound closure’ 53 ± 20 days and ‘length of hospital stay’ 61 ± 31 days. Scar quality was minimally described and often poorly assessed. Limited data were available on outcomes ‘donor site size’, ‘number of operations’, ‘cost effectiveness’ and ‘bacterial load/wound infection rate’. Conclusion: Overall poor study quality and the specific lack of data on scar quality, made it impossible to draw conclusions on the outcomes of Meek micrografting. A randomized controlled trial is required to further investigate the performance of the Meek micrograft technique.
KW - Burns
KW - Graft take
KW - Meek micrograft technique
KW - Mesh graft technique
KW - Scar quality
KW - Time to wound closure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85136248292&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85136248292&origin=inward
UR - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35718572
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2022.05.011
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2022.05.011
M3 - Review article
C2 - 35718572
SN - 0305-4179
VL - 48
SP - 1287
EP - 1300
JO - Burns
JF - Burns
IS - 6
ER -