Split thickness skin grafting plus dural closure in management of myelomeningocele

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to evaluate post operative and long term follow up wound healing after using two methods of repair [direct closure or covering by split thickness skin grafts. Long term follow up revealed a higher incidence of chronic skin ulceration the split-thickness skin graft group as compared with the primary closure group. All skin breakdowns appeared in the presence of C.S.F. leakage and or the presence of Gibbus deformity. A thoracic or thoracolumbar myelomeningocele repair with split thickness skin graft was more likely to be complicated by skin problems than the defects in the lumbar lumbosacral or sacral region. This relationship was secondary to the frequency of gibbus deformity in the more cephalad defects than caudal defects