Multiple Factors Analysis Of Clinical Characteristics And Causations Of The Complications Of Skin Soft Tissue Expanders

Tissue expansion was widely used in the world since the controlledskin tissue expander was developed by Radovan in 1976. With patients'higher requirement to plastic operation, specialists found that skin softtissue expander (STE) can supply skin tissue and flap which are similarwith tissue of accepted region in color, luster, texture and thickness.However, skin expansion is associated with some complications which canlead to operation failure.This thesis is composed of two parts: review of documents and clinicalpractice.Review of documents summarizes the main experiences and problemsrelated in tissue expansion in clinical application.We made a retrospective analysis of 558 cases treated with skinexpansion in recent five years to study the influence factors related tocomplications, in order to provide the guidelines for future clinicalwork.From August 2001 to November 2006, 82 cases with complications duringtissue expansion in 558 cases were reviewed and analyzed in differentgroups. The results are that exposure of expander occupied the first placein complications of tissue expansion. Incidence of complication in theexposure of expander was 29.27%. There isn't relationship between maleand female. The influence factors of complications are old-age, one-stageexpanders, etc. In addition, according to the different location of skinexpansion, total 916 expanders were divided into 6 groups: face, scalp, neck, trunk, extremities and posterior auricular skin. Incidence ofcomplications in posterior auricular group was significantly higher than other groups.In conclusion, expansion technique of soft tissue can reach goodcosmetic result. However, it is hindered by long-term treatment, multiplecomplications and other factors. We need to make further research on howto increase expansion effect and reduce incidence rate of complications.