Do Topical Antibiotics Improve Skin Graft Results?

Effects of Topical Neomycin on Skin Graft Outcomes in Rural Bangladesh: a Retrospective Cohort Study

The goal of this study is to see if putting antibiotic ointment on a skin graft when the surgery is being done helps prevent the skin graft from getting infected after the operation. The study is looking at all skin grafts done in a rural Bangladesh hospital.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does the antibiotic lower the number of infections that happen? Does the antibiotic make the overall outcome of the skin graft better? Do patients who get the antibiotic need fewer extra surgeries?

Researchers will compare the outcomes from patients who had skin grafts before the hospital started applying antibiotic ointment to the outcomes of patients after the hospital began applying antibiotic ointment.

Participants who have already had their skin graft treatment completed will have their medical records reviewed by researchers. The outcomes of their treatment will be written down.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Wounds and Injuries; Skin Transplantation; Antibiotic Prophylaxis Surgery
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Neomycin

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 142

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Bangladesh
  • Dinajpur
    • Parbatipur, Dinajpur, Bangladesh, 5250
      • LAMB Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients with wounds undergoing split-thickness skin graft surgery at a single rural hospital in Bangladesh.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• patient undergoing a split-thickness skin graft at the hospital where research is conducted

Exclusion Criteria:

• Missing or incomplete medical record

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Control; Patients who had skin graft procedure before the topical antibiotic protocol was initiated
Neomycin; Patients who had skin graft procedure after the topical antibiotic protocol was initiated. Patients had topical neomycin applied at the time of their surgeries.	Drug: Neomycin; Topical neomycin was applied at the time of split-thickness skin graft surgery.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Post-operative infection rate	Whether patients had post-operative infection during their hospitalization, classified as "yes" or "no" as defined by any of the following being present: "post-operative infection" diagnosis written in the patient's medical record, change or increase in antibiotic therapy post-operatively, or the presence of pus documented at the skin graft site.	Measured if present at any time during the patient's initial post-operative hospitalization, which averaged 20 days, from time of operation until time of discharge.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Skin graft take	Percentage of skin graft that remained intact at the time of discharge, as estimated by the treating surgeon and documented in the patient's record.	Measured at the time of discharge from the patient's initial post-operative hospitalization, which averaged 20 days.
Need for operative re-intervention	Whether patient needed to return to the operating room for additional procedures (such as debridement or repeat skin grafting) for the same wound, classified as "yes" or "no."	From the time of operation until the end of the study period (up to three years for the earliest skin graft patients).
Length of stay	Number of days spent in the hospital during the initial post-operative period.	Measured at the time of discharge from the patient's initial post-operative hospitalization, which averaged 20 days.
Allergic reaction	Whether patient had any allergic reaction to neomycin or any other substance documented - categorized as "yes" or "no," based on the new presentation of rash or pruritis.	Measured if present at any time during the patient's initial post-operative hospitalization, which averaged 20 days, from time of operation until time of discharge.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: LAMB Project

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 1, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 31, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): August 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 2, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 13, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): December 16, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 16, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 13, 2025
• Last Verified: December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: developing countries; bangladesh
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Wounds and Injuries; Carbohydrates; Glycosides; Aminoglycosides; Neomycin
• Other Study ID Numbers: REC2025/03

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: All IPD that underlie results in a publication may be available upon reasonable request if the study is published in a peer-reviewed journal.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: This IPD will be available beginning when the study is published and will be available while the authors continue to be affiliated with the institution where the study has taken place.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: The request for sharing of data must be reviewed by the LAMB Project Research Ethics Committee, which will make all final decisions about the sharing of individual patient data.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; ANALYTIC_CODE; CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No