eMedicine Specialties > Dermatology > Surgical

Closure of Complicated Wounds

Author: Erik A Hoy, MD, Resident Physician, Department of Plastic Surgery, Rhode Island Hospital, Brown University
Coauthor(s): Robert A Schwartz, MD, MPH, Professor and Head, Dermatology, Professor of Pathology, Pediatrics, Medicine, and Preventive Medicine and Community Health, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School; Mark S Granick, MD, Professor and Chairman, Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School; Santiago A Centurion, MD, Staff Physician, Department of Dermatology, New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
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Updated: Aug 28, 2009

Introduction

Complicated wounds are those that cannot be closed primarily without complex surgical manipulation. The approach to the closure of the complicated wound depends largely on the nature of the wound. When managing these wounds the goals are optimal aesthetic outcome and preservation of function.

Complicated wounds may occur as a result of trauma or following the excision of tumors of the skin. The focus here is the management of the clean wound following skin tumor resection, particularly of the head and neck region. However, the principles presented may be applied to the management of all complicated wounds.

History of the Procedure

The earliest documented surgical intervention to rebuild a complicated defect was from India in 700 BCE. Susruta used advancement of cheek tissues, Tagliacozzi used tubed skin flaps from the upper arm in the 1500s, and Lucas published his account of the Indian method of forehead rhinoplasty in Gentleman’s Quarterly in October 1794.

Independently, the Italians developed delayed flaps, tube flaps, and flap transfers by utilizing the upper inner arm skin to reconstruct a nose. This technique was published by Tagliacozzi in 1597. In modern medicine, the use of local flaps to repair facial defects began to evolve around the mid 1800s. A variety of flaps were used, but the blood supply and the dynamics of the surgery were not well understood. Sir Harold Gilles detailed the principles of flap and graft reconstruction of nasal defects in his 1957 treatise and initiated an interest in reconstructive surgery.

Local skin flaps such as those described in this article were primarily developed in the 1950s in Europe and the United States by the second generation of plastic surgeons. Ian MacGregor, however, recognized the importance of an axial blood supply in flap surgery in the 1970s. Subsequent refinements have led to muscle flaps and free flaps.

Relevant Anatomy

In managing the excisional defect, the surgeon must first assess the size and the depth of the wound as well as the presence or the absence of exposed internal anatomy in the wound. A defect containing exposed bone, nerves, or blood vessels usually necessitates a more advanced closure than would a less complicated wound.

The quality of the surrounding skin is also of great importance. Skin quality may vary from young, tight, and elastic, to aged, dry, and lax. The wrinkled skin of an older patient produces less obvious scarring and offers the opportunity to conceal scars within skin tension lines. Skin that is more heavily pigmented or oily generally yields a less favorable scar. The presence of actinic damage, skin diseases, and premalignant satellite lesions should also be considered. Finally, location is of major concern. Defects adjacent to unique anatomical structures present a more involved reconstruction. Defects approaching the eyelids, the nasal openings, the oral commissure, and the external auditory meatus must be reconstructed so as to avoid distorting the anatomy unique to those areas. Any alteration of these surrounding landmarks can potentially compromise functional and aesthetic results.

Facial defects merit special consideration because they represent particularly visible and potentially functionally detrimental reconstructions relative to wounds elsewhere. However, the principles presented here may be applied to the management of all complicated wounds.

Contraindications

When repairing facial tumor defects the most important consideration is the management of the tumor. Incompletely excised tumor should not be covered over by a flap. Skin adjacent to a tumor resection margin should not be turned over to line the nasal cavity or any other site where it will be difficult to examine.

In patients who have a history of multiple or recurrent skin cancers, a strategy must be developed to allow for serial repairs. No bridges should be burned along the way.

When planning a reconstruction, function must be protected first, and, then, the cosmetic issues are considered. A good-looking static repair that compromises dynamic function is unacceptable. When considering the cosmetic issues, try to avoid crossing anatomical boundaries with a flap. The obliteration of folds and creases that occur naturally will lead to an undesirable result. Burget and Menick first published their subunit principles for reconstruction of nasal defects in 1985,¹ and they have continued to publish extensively.^2,3,4 Indeed, larger or longer scars on the face may be less noticeable than smaller scars, if those small scars are oriented or located in an unaesthetic manner. Planning is paramount in obtaining a cosmetic result in closure of complicated wounds on the face.

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