Clinical & Experimental Dermatology

Biography

Biography: Manjit Kaur

Abstract

Vitiligo is an acquired, progressive depigmentation disorder of the skin and/or mucous membranes of great cosmetic importance. Many new therapeutic options for vitiligo (both medical and surgical) have become available over the last decade. One among them is the smashed skin grafting or smash grafting, which is a modification of split-thickness grafting. In this procedure, the graft undergoes smashing before being applied to the recipient site. Although its a simple and effective procedure, but very few people are doing it, either due to lack of awareness or due to lack of published data. Objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of smash grafting in cases of stable vitiligo. Smash grafting was done in thirty cases of localized, stable, recalcitrant vitiligo in the present study. Patients were divided into group A (PUVA was given postoperatively) and group B (only sunlight exposure was given post operatively) and were followed up at four, eight, twelve weeks to assess repigmentation with the surrounding skin. In all 30 cases, repigmentation was observed from 3 weeks onwards and continued to increase on subsequent follow-ups. 76.66% of patients achieved more than 50% repigmentation at 12 weeks. Although number of study cases was small and also the follow up period was short (only 12 weeks), Smash grafting was found to be a simple, easy to learn and cost effective one stage procedure with gratifying results for extensive areas of vitiligo with no surgical complications as compared to other surgical methods.