RESUMEN
Objective To investigate the clinical therapeutic effects of stretch regeneration according to law of tension stress for skin defects.Methods We reviewed the 16 patients with skin defect who had been treated at Department of Traumatic Orthopaedics and Hand Surgery,The First Affiliated Hospital,Guangxi Medical University by skin traction band made of a sterile blood transfusion apparatus and sterile nylon strips from March 2016 to July 2017.They were 12 males and 4 females,aged from 7 to 68 years (average,33 years).The areas of their skin defects ranged from 6 cm × 3 cm to 20 cm × 5 cm.After thorough debridement,a simple skin traction band made of a sterile blood transfusion apparatus and a number of aseptic nylon strips was placed on both margins of the wound,1 cm apart from the margin.The distances between wound holes ranged from 1.5 to 2.0 cm.The simple tension band was installed along the wound margins.After operation,the skin traction band was gradually tightened,according to the tension,blood supply to the skin margins and feeling of the distal end of the affected limb,to close the wound until interrupted suture of the skin was conducted.Results The wounds were closed by interrupted suture directly after application of the skin traction band in 13 of the 16 patients.The wounds were repaired by secondary vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) and skin graft in 2 cases with foot avulsed injury and infection in whom the traction band was pulled out along the wound skin margins.Skin graft was applied in one case with massive forearm skin defect and infection after the traction band failed.Follow-ups from 3 to 19 months revealed that application of the skin traction band led to linear scar healing,soft scar,little pigmentation,no tickle,no adjacent joint dysfunction due to skin contracture and normal pain sensation in most of the patients.Conclusion Stretch regeneration according to law of tension stress is an effective,simple and economical treatment of skin defects,deserving popularization.