title: [Application of external skin expansion in repair of massive skin and soft tissue defects].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the clinical effect of external tissue expansion in the repair of massive skin and soft tissue defects.
  
  
  METHODS
  From August 1998 to January 2004, 10 patients with massive skin and soft tissue defects ( the area ranging from 10 cm x 4 cm to 24 cm x 15 cm) , including 7 with wounds in the leg, 2 with wounds in knee region, and 1 with wounds in the forearm, were enrolled in the study. All patients were subjected to external tissue expansion together with external skeletal fixation for 2 -3 weeks, then the wounds were closed with suturing or supplemented with skin flaps.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The defects were closed completely after external expansion in 4 cases, and in other 5 cases the wounds were significantly decreased in area, and the residual wounds were covered with free skin grafting. In I case the wound could only be reduced in size, and the residual wound was closed with a local flap. Follow-up from 1 to 12 months showed that the wounds were closed with normal cutaneous sensation and good appearance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  External skin expansion is a simple, economical method for repair of massive skin soft-tissue defect, which can significantly be reduced or entirely closed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics , the 2nd Hospital of Jilin University , Changchun 130041 , PR China.
authors.forename: Dong-sheng
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yu-jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.forename: Hong-hui
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D062109:Dermatologic Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017695:Soft Tissue Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D015626:Tissue Expansion / Q000379:methods*; D014945:Wound Healing; D055815:Young Adult