Treatment of upper eyelid third-degree burns by dispersed implantation of very small autologous columnar skin grafts: A pilot study of a new method

•SCS implantation is a new surgical method for skin graft.•Very small autologous columnar skin implantation instead of sheet graft.•SCS implantation can restore the full layer structure of the skin.•SCS implantation achieved good recovery of function and appearance.•There is no obvious scar was found in the donor site. This retrospective study compared the effectiveness of dispersed implantation of very small autologous columnar skin (SCS) grafts and full-thickness skin grafts (FTSGs) for treating upper eyelid third-degree burns. Fourteen patients and 26 eyes with granulation tissue formed by third-degree upper eyelid burns were enrolled in the study from August 2017 to June 2020. The experimental group of 6 patients with 11 eyes was treated with SCS grafts. The control group of 8 patients with 15 eyes was treated with FTSGs. The survival rate of the grafts, healing time, SCS diameter, upper eyelid movement distance (ULMD), visual analogue scale (VAS) score for patient satisfaction, and Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) score were evaluated. The difference in the survival rate between the two groups was not statistically significant (P = 0.06). The ULMD and VAS scores in the experimental group were higher than those in the control group (P