title: Treatment of the concrete scalp donor site.
abstract: The scalp has become a popular donor site for split-thickness skin, and few complications have been reported. However, we have been troubled by 5 patients in whom the donor site did not epithelialize but rather turned into dried granulation tissue with embedded growing hairs, a situation rather like concrete with steel reinforcing rods. The pathophysiology is not clear but seems to be related to thick grafts from hair-bearing areas. We treated the lesions by removing the granulation tissue, shaving the hair, and treating the wound as a new donor site. Four lesions healed with total or near total regrowth of hair, and one required a small skin graft.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle 98195.
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Engrav
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Grube
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Bubak
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002056:Burns / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D012535:Scalp / Q000601:surgery*; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous