Donor site healing response to low-level laser therapy following skin graft surgery

Introduction Skin grafting is an essential reconstructive technique for the healing of deep and extensive burns. Donor site problems are common complications after skin graft surgery. Speeding up the healing process at the donor site using low-level laser therapy helps avoid these problems. Objectives: The purpose of this research was to examine the efficacy of low-level laser therapy in promoting donor site healing in burn patients who underwent skin graft surgery. Methods Forty patients of both genders (16 male, 24 female) aged 20–40 years suffered full-thickness burns with a total body surface area varying from 20 to 35% and had undergone split-thickness skin graft surgery were selected randomly and divided into two equal groups. The low-level laser therapy group (study group) attended three sessions per week for three weeks, while the placebo group (control group) received sham laser treatments. All patients received conventional medical treatment and traditional wound care (dressing). Photography and J Image software were used to measure wound surface area before the treatment (day 1 post-operative), day 11 post-operative, and day 21 post-operative in both groups. Results The study and control groups demonstrated a substantial reduction in wound surface area at day 11 and day 21 post-operative compared with day 1 (<i>p</i> < 0.001), with the percentage of improvement of 88.69% and 98.73% and 50.18% and 80.22%, respectively. On day 21 compared to day 11 (<i>p</i> < 0.001), the percentage of improvement was 88.81% and 60.30%, respectively. Between-group comparisons revealed a significant decrease in wound surface area at day 11 and day 21 post-operative in the study group compared to the control group (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Conclusions Low-level laser therapy is an effective modality for enhancing wound healing of the donor site in burned patients undergoing skin graft surgery.