This image shows the mobility of a mature mesh, split-thickness skin graft on the dorsum of a hand more than one year after surgery. Split thickness skin grafts (which include the epidermis and part of the dermis) are commonly used to cover wounds. When the wound is large, the graft may be perforated with hundreds of tiny holes which allow it to stretch to cover a larger area (mesh graft). Although over time the grafted, meshed skin becomes similarly mobile to normal skin, the mesh appearance remains.
ADDITIONAL SUGGESTED READING
Clinical Pearl No. 24 – Tissue Maturity
Clinical Pearl No. 37 – Is Manual Passive Motion Always the Best Treatment Option?
Clinical Pearl No. 31 – Waiting for Tissue to Grow
Clinical Pearl No. 20 – Quantifying Interosseous Muscle Tightness Testing
Clinical Pearl No. 7 – Attaching Interface Mold to Splint Surface
Book Chapter – Principals of Splinting and Splint Prescription – 1996
Book Chapter – Therapist’s Management of the Stiff Hand – 2011
What Do You See? No. 3 – An Impressive Keloid
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Disclaimer: HandLab’s What Do You See? is intended to be an informal sharing of practical clinical ideas; not formal evidence-based conclusions of fact.
