The Efficacy of Collagen Membrane as a Biodegradable Wound Dressing Material for Surgical Defects of Oral Mucosa: A Prospective Study

Purpose: The aims and objectives of this study were to evaluate the efficacy of collagen membrane as a biodegradable wound dressing material for surgical defects of the oral mucosa. Materials and Methods: Sixty healthy adult patients were included in the study. Purified bovine reconstituted collagen with a dimension of 10 x 10 cm and 0.6 mm thickness was used. This study was confined to secondary defects of the oral mucosa, which occur after excision of premalignant lesions and other conditions, such as benign lesions, reactive proliferations, and incisional biopsy wounds. Only those lesions that were sufficiently large and could not be closed primarily were included in the study. Results: The results were evaluated on the day of surgery and in the postoperative period. The usefulness of collagen membrane as an intraoral temporary wound dressing material to promote hemostasis, relieve pain, induce granulation, and assist in rapid epithelialization at the wound site and prevent infection, contracture, scarring, donor-site morbidity, and rejection of graft was evaluated; and finally, the efficacy of collagen membrane was tested by use of chi(2) test and P less than .001, which is a statistically and clinically significant value. Conclusion: in this study of short duration and small sample, the nature of collagen membrane was observed and was found to be a very suitable alternative to other graft materials mentioned for the repair of defects in the mucous membrane of the oral cavity. Therefore, when used judiciously in a controlled clinical situation, collagen membrane is biologically acceptable to the oral mucosa and is, from the clinical point of view, an excellent wound graft material. (C) 2009 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons J Oral Maxillofac Surg 67:1600-1606, 2009