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Global Translational Medicine RhPDGF-BB/gelatin sponge-treated FGG

A B C

D E F

Figure 3. Photos showing the FGG harvesting, application of the rhPDGF-BB-soaked gelatin sponge to the donor site, and post-operative healing in
patient 5. (A) Pre-operative situation; (B) FGG harvesting; (C) A pre-cut rhPDGF-BB-soaked gelatin sponge placed in the wound site and sutured with
PGA sutures; (D) Donor site healing on day 3; (E) Donor site healing on day 10; (F) Donor site healing on day 13.
Abbreviations: FGG: Free gingival graft; rhPDGF-BB: Recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor-BB.
pain. During the visit on day 14, no patients reported
any pain. Patients had an average VAS score of 2 at
the day 3 follow-up, 1 at the day 7 follow-up, and 0
(i.e., no discomfort) at the day 14 follow-up (Figure 4).
Clinically, the FGG palatal donor sites treated with
rhPDGF-BB-soaked gelatin sponge had already started
to heal on day 3. After 7 days, healing appeared well
underway in the donor sites, which were completely
healed on day 14 (Figures 2 and 3). No swelling or
bleeding was observed at any of the post-surgical time
points. Every patient was given a VAS, encompassing a
range of perceived pain levels from “no pain” to “worst
pain ever,” during days 3, 7, and 14 visits for pain intensity Figure 4. Alteration of patients’ self-reported perceived pain level
assessment (Figure 4). determined with visual analog scale
4. Discussion Table 1. The PROMs as indicated by VAS scores

Post-operative pain is one of the most reported side effects Patient number First visit Second visit Third visit
following the FGG harvesting procedure. In this survey, (day 3) (day 7) (day 14 ± 3)
2
it is also the most common patient complaint following 1 3 1 0
the procedure investigated in this study. Thus, reducing 2 2 4 0
palatal donor site pain can significantly improve patient
outcomes. This study reported that all 10 patients included 3 1 0 0
experienced only mild pain three days after surgery and no 4 2 0 0
pain during the day 7 follow-up, indicating the superiority 5 3 2 0
of rhPDGF-BB-soaked gelatin sponge in improving 6 0 0 0
patients’ clinical outcomes as compared to other historical 7 2 0 0
control methods such as stents, PRF, or gelatin sponge 8 2 1 0
without rhPDGF-BB. 9 3 0 0
The key functions of placing a dressing in the donor 10 2 0 0
site are attenuating pain and bleeding, making the Abbreviations: PROMs: Patient-reported outcome measures;
healing process more comfortable, improving the patient VAS: Visual analog scale.
experience, and supporting wound healing. Growth
factors like rhPDGF-BB provide a positive stimulus on of the healing cells, expanding the number of healing
the mitogenesis (proliferation) and chemotaxis (homing) cells in the wound. Likewise, rhPDGF-BB also increases

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2024) 4 doi: 10.36922/gtm.2693