Does Retention of Periosteum at the Palatal Donor Site During Subepithelial Connective Tissue Graft Harvesting Influence Wound Healing and Morbidity? A Randomized Controlled Trial

In subepithelial connective tissue graft (SCTG) harvesting, some clinicians prefer to leave the periosteum at the donor site, anticipating faster healing of the palatal wound, though this assumption has not been clinically proven yet. This study aimed to compare early wound healing at palatal donor sites and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs: pain perception, delayed bleeding and sensation loss) after harvesting SCTG with or without periosteum using the single-incision technique (SIT). Thirty-eight patients were randomly assigned to two groups: SCTG with periosteum (SCTGP+ group) and SCTG without periosteum (SCTGP- group). Assessment of donor site wound healing at one-week post-surgery using modified early healing index (EHI) was the primary outcome of the study and PROMs were the secondary outcomes. Thirty-four patients (17 in each group) were included in final analysis. The mean EHI for SCTGP+ group (2.88 ± 1.22) and for SCTGP- group (2.70 ± 1.10) did not differ significantly (p = 0.661). Palatal flap thickness was found to be negatively correlated with EHI (p < 0.001) and pain (p < 0.05). No statistically significant differences in pain perception were observed between the groups at any time point. None of the patients reported delayed bleeding. Sensation loss recovery was faster in SCTGP+ group with significant difference between the groups only at week 2 (p = 0.026). Within the limitations of our study, harvesting of SCTG with or without periosteum was not found to significantly influence the wound healing and pain perception at palatal donor site.