[The application of external skin expansion in the soft tissue donor site].
OBJECTIVE
To overcome the insufficiency of donor tissue for repairing a large postburn defect.


METHODS
The donor site was pre-expanded with an external expansion device in 54 clinical cases.


RESULTS
The expansion process was uneventful. The external expansion had delay effect that enabled the flap to be transferred with greater length to width ratio. After external expansion, the donor site of a flap or skin graft could be closed directly. The recipient and donor sites healed simultaneously.


CONCLUSIONS
External expansion is a practical method to provide 'extra' skin for reconstruction of a large skin defect.
Zhang
M
M
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Changhai Hospital, Shanghai 200433.
Wang
D
D
Jiang
H
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002056:Burns / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D002921:Cicatrix / Q000601:surgery; D017439:Cicatrix, Hypertrophic / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D015626:Tissue Expansion