Pauline D H M Verhaegen1, Monica C T Bloemen2, Martijn B A van der Wal2, Adrianus F P M Vloemans3, Fenike R H Tempelman3, Gerard I J M Beerthuizen4, Paul P M van Zuijlen5. 1. Association of Dutch Burn Centers, Red Cross Hospital, Beverwijk, The Netherlands; Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, Red Cross Hospital, Beverwijk, The Netherlands; Burn Center, Red Cross Hospital, Beverwijk, The Netherlands; Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: paulineverhaegen@hotmail.com. 2. Association of Dutch Burn Centers, Red Cross Hospital, Beverwijk, The Netherlands; Burn Center, Red Cross Hospital, Beverwijk, The Netherlands. 3. Burn Center, Red Cross Hospital, Beverwijk, The Netherlands. 4. Burn Center, Martini Hospital, Groningen, The Netherlands. 5. Association of Dutch Burn Centers, Red Cross Hospital, Beverwijk, The Netherlands; Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, Red Cross Hospital, Beverwijk, The Netherlands; Burn Center, Red Cross Hospital, Beverwijk, The Netherlands; Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In burn care, a well-acknowledged problem is the suboptimal scar outcome from skin grafted burn wounds. With the aim of improving this, we focused on a new technique: excision of the burn wound followed by primary closure, thereby using a skin-stretching device to stretch the adjacent healthy skin. The short- and long-term effect of Skin Stretch was compared to split skin grafting (SSG) in a randomized controlled trial. METHODS:Patients with burn wounds were randomized for SSG or primary wound closure using Skin Stretch. Follow-up was performed at 3 and 12 months postoperatively. The scar surface area was calculated and the scar quality was assessed, using subjective and objective measurement methods. RESULTS: No significant differences between the SSG and the Skin Stretch group were found for scar surface area. In the Skin Stretch group, a significant reduction of the surface area from 65.4cm(2) (13.6-129.1) to 13.4cm(2) (3.0-36.6) was found at 3 months (p=0.028) and at 12 months postoperatively (65.4cm(2) (13.6-129.1) to 33.0cm(2) (8.9-63.7), p=0.046, Wilcoxon signed ranks test). CONCLUSIONS:Skin Stretch for primary closure of acute burn wounds is a suitable technique and can be considered for specific circumscript full-thickness burn wounds. However, future research should be performed to provide additional scientific evidence.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: In burn care, a well-acknowledged problem is the suboptimal scar outcome from skin grafted burn wounds. With the aim of improving this, we focused on a new technique: excision of the burn wound followed by primary closure, thereby using a skin-stretching device to stretch the adjacent healthy skin. The short- and long-term effect of Skin Stretch was compared to split skin grafting (SSG) in a randomized controlled trial. METHODS:Patients with burn wounds were randomized for SSG or primary wound closure using Skin Stretch. Follow-up was performed at 3 and 12 months postoperatively. The scar surface area was calculated and the scar quality was assessed, using subjective and objective measurement methods. RESULTS: No significant differences between the SSG and the Skin Stretch group were found for scar surface area. In the Skin Stretch group, a significant reduction of the surface area from 65.4cm(2) (13.6-129.1) to 13.4cm(2) (3.0-36.6) was found at 3 months (p=0.028) and at 12 months postoperatively (65.4cm(2) (13.6-129.1) to 33.0cm(2) (8.9-63.7), p=0.046, Wilcoxon signed ranks test). CONCLUSIONS: Skin Stretch for primary closure of acute burn wounds is a suitable technique and can be considered for specific circumscript full-thickness burn wounds. However, future research should be performed to provide additional scientific evidence.
Authors: Mingzhi Song; Zhen Zhang; Tao Liu; Song Liu; Gang Li; Zhaochang Liu; Jingyang Huang; Song Chen; Linan Li; Li Guo; Yang Qiu; Jiajia Wan; Yuejian Liu; Tao Wu; Xiaoyong Wang; Ming Lu; Shouyu Wang Journal: Exp Ther Med Date: 2017-06-01 Impact factor: 2.447