Effects of chitosan film on palatinal wound healing

The hard palate has been the primary source of donor tissue inperiodontal plastic surgery for root coverage and augmentation of keratinizedgingiva. Most documented complications after FGG procedures are associatedwith the donor site. Harvesting a free soft tissue graft can result in excessivehomorrhage, postoperative bone exposure, prolonged pain and/ or discomfortor infection at the donor site. This study eveluated the efficacy of chitosan filmon hemostasis, wound healing and pain control after harvesting donor tissue forfree gingival grafts. Two treatment groups were selected according to thebleeding from the donor site after the surgical procedure and patients receiveda test product (chitosan) or control (steril gauze with external pressure). 26palatinal donor sites were eveluated at surgery for hemostasis and followedover 21 days for healing and complications. At the day 7, the patients?subjective experiences of pain, bleeding and analgesic use were recorded.Healing was uneventful in both groups and there was no statististicallysignificant difference for pain scores and analgesic use. The mean wound areaand mean distance between the epithelial margins decreased significantly withtime in test and control groups, with the greatest wound area reduction on day14. Chitosan did not have a negative effect on wound healing. Nevertheless,further studies should be conducted to evaluate the advantages of chitosan filmon palatinal donor site healing and hemostasis.Keywords: chitosan, free gingival graft, wound healing