Early repair and reconstruction for the wounds of face and joints of mass burn casualties / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To repair and reconstruct severe burn wounds on face,hands and joints with the principles and techniques of plastic and aesthetic surgery.Methods Twenty three burn victims in a single batch were transferred from a remote area to our Burns Institute on post burn day 2,June 28,2006.All the patients were males aged from 17 to 46 years,with a mean of 24.4?6.3 years,the mean total burn area was 15.7%?13.9% TBSA(ranged from 6% to 75%),with moderate to severe inhalation injury,and fourteen of them had received tracheostomy.The burn areas on face ranged from 0.5% to 3% TBSA,and all of them were deep second or third degree burn.The burn areas on hands ranged from 1% to 4% TBSA of deep second or third degree.On post burn day 3,the patients received escharectomy or tangential excision of eschar on hands followed by split thickness skin grafting with the principles and techniques of plastic and aesthetic surgery.During post burn week 2 to 3,the eschar on the faces were peeled off,followed by split-thickness skin grafting according to the principles and techniques of plastic and aesthetic surgery.Results All the wounds on the face and joints were repaired successfully,the configuration and functions were satisfactory.Conclusion It is feasible to repair the burn wounds on face and joints with the principles and techniques of plastic and aesthetic surgery for the burn patients of mass fire catastrophe.