Stapling technique through transparent dressing to fix skin grafts

Objective: The skin stapler is a useful device to fix skin grafts to the wound bed. However, complications often occur, possibly because of failure in removing staples. We have used a transparent dressing, Mepitel One (Mölnlycke Health Care), to solve this problem. Methods: We performed stapling on the surface of the dressing to fix the skin grafts in 14 cases with burn wounds or other skin defects. Tie-over dressing or negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) dressing was then applied. Results: All staples could be removed without missing them at the same time as removing the transparent dressing. Conclusion: Stapling through the transparent dressing on skin grafts is a safe and useful method to prevent missing staples and to allow monitoring of the wound condition. Keywords: Skin graft, Staple, Transparent dressing