Treatment of the concrete scalp donor site.
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.
Engrav
L H
LH
Department of Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle 98195.
Grube
B J
BJ
Bubak
P J
PJ
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