Scalp stretching with a tissue expander for closure of scalp defects.
The authors show a way of reconstruction of scalp defects with excellent results using a tissue expander. This method creates "new" scalp tissue for coverage of defects with normal hair-bearing skin having a dense and even growth of hair. The hairs grow in the correct direction. The authors also show that almost all of the "new" hair-bearing scalp gained by the tissue expander is a result of stretching the scalp over the expander and its close surroundings and that only a very minute portion is gained by migration of the scalp from farther away.
D000818:Animals; D001733:Bites and Stings / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D004285:Dogs; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D012535:Scalp / Q000293:injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D013518:Surgery, Plastic / Q000295:instrumentation*