Burn Reconstruction Plastic Surgery

When a burn has damaged the skin tissue, a reconstructive plastic surgery can be performed to replace the skin. It is important to follow the decision of   ‘a burn specialist’ with rich experience as the surgery should be determined, considering a patient’s age or the specific condition of the burned area. The reconstruction surgery can be divided into escharectomy and skin grafts.

Escharectomy

Escharectomy boosts wound healing by removing the dead scabs (eschar) during the burn treatment.
This can be well applied to a small sized area.

Escharectomy is required

- when it is full sickness or third-degree burns.
- when dead scabs slow wound-healing down.
- when rapid recovery is necessary.

Skin Grafts
Full-Thickness Skin Graft (FTSG)

It involves transplanting the entire epidermis and dermis of the skin. The shape and its function of the transplanted site is similar to that of the skin around them so that FTSG blends in well with the normal skin as the body grows and a better cosmetic result can be expected. It is mainly used for the recovery of contracture deformities on joints, a face, or other scars on the exposed areas so that its functional recovery and cosmetic effect can be expected. Yet, a donor site is limited and a surgical treatment is required.

Split Thickness Skin Graft (STSG)

This involves removing a partial layer of the epidermis and dermis. It is mainly used to correct contracture deformities or hypertrophic scars. Yet, as only a part of the skin is implanted, contractions and pigmentation on the skin can occur.

Allograft

When collecting a full-layer skin is not available from a donor site, artificial dermis or allograft dermis can be implanted so as to create a layer of dermis, on which the partial layer of a patient’s skin can be thinly placed. So it can be as effective as Full-Thickness Skin Graft. But, using artificial dermis is expensive.

Other Surgical Methods
Regional Flap Surgery

When the skin on the surgical area is not sufficient, the wound can be covered by some adjacent normal skin or muscles after they are detached.

Free Flap Surgery

When the dysfunction cannot be resolved by a skin transplantation, the damaged subcutaneous tissues are removed. And then blood vessels, nerves, tendons, or others are bonded to them.

Tissue Expansion

In order to obtain supplementary skin from its own, a tissue expander is inserted to the surgical area followed by saline solution into the expander. And then we can have skin as much as it is stretched by being inflated.