Abstract:

BACKGROUND: In recent years, clinical studies have shown that skin expansion had been widely used. However, the flap retraction trends and pressure on basal of directional and non-directional skin expansion had rarely reported.
OBJECTIVE: To compare the trend retraction in the flap between directional and non-directional skin expansion, and to investigate the safety and effectiveness of skin expansion applying in clinic.
METHODS: Totally 126 patients with faciocervical disease treated by skin expansion were reviewed retrospectively. The differences in clinical effects and complication of directional and non-directional skin expansion were compared, and histological changes of skins using two expansions were observed.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Both epidermal cells and the fibrous capsules located on the surface of expansion proliferated in two groups. Part of fibroblasts changed into myofibroblasts in derma. Compared with non-directional skin expansion, directional skin expansion could decrease the expanding duration and frequency, as well as reduce complication. The results showed that histomorphological changes of soft tissues in two groups were similar. There was no histological manifestation that directional expansion had much more serious damage to the skin tissues than non-directional skin expansion and faster expansion led to much more serious retraction. Compared with the non-directional skin expansion, the clinical application of directional skin expansion is characterized by more efficient in expanding skin, less compressive on the basal layer of epidermis, and shorten treatment duration. The therapeutic efficacy shows that directional skin expansion is really a safe and effective method in treating faciocervical disease.