Abstract

Closure of large defects skin surface after extensive burns remains an important issue in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Deficit of intact skin dictates a careful and creative approach to surfaces of normal skin. Skin stretching technique using tissue expansion device is a promising approach to treat the little patients with large skin defects. The goal of this approach is to form a full-thickness skin flap of a desired size in cases where skin surfaces, typical for taking a graft, are limited in area or damaged. The resulting skin graft, obtained by our method, could be used on various body parts. We have treated 25 patients with large defects of skin surface using skin stretching technique. 24 patients had burn trauma and one child had a trauma related to a car accident. All patients had cicatricial deformations and various degrees of contractures, which were associated with significant limitations in their everyday life. Using skin stretching devices we were able to get full-thickness skin grafts ranging to 300 sq cm. Scar deformations and contractures were corrected in all patients. Skin stretching technique has been proven to be a useful method in treating large surface skin defects in pediatric patients with various burns, cicatricial contractures, other traumatic causes of skin defects. Skin stretching technique allows receiving a full-thickness skin graft of a desired size similar to normal skin. This method solves a problem of lack of skin graft for closure of large wound areas.

Keywords: Tissue expansion; Post-burn scars in children; Fullthickness skin graft; Burns in children; Cicatricial deformations