title: Full-thickness skin grafts and perichondrial cutaneous grafts following surgical removal of cutaneous neoplasms of the head and neck.
abstract: The objective of the study is to determine efficacy in terms of survival rate and cosmesis of "normal" full-thickness skin grafts (FTSGs) as compared to perichondrial cutaneous grafts (PCCGs) in facial reconstruction. A chart review of all facial reconstructions using FTSGs and PCCGs between 1995 and 2005 was undertaken. All patients were treated by the same surgeon. A total of 121 skin grafts were included in this study (70 FTSGs and 51 PCCGs). All patients were examined at days 5 and 10 to assess the viability of the graft. For esthetic evaluation, 70 photographs were available with a minimum follow-up of 6 months (42 FTSGs/59% of total; 28 PCCGs/54% of total). The photos were randomly shown to three raters, who had no previous knowledge about the graft being a FTSG or PGCG. The complete take rate of the FTSGs and of the PCCGs was respectively, 87% (9 failures) and 94% (3 failures) .This is no statistically significant difference (P = 0.1857). The cosmetic outcome of PCCGs overall scored better by the three raters. However, the esthetic rating between PCCG and FTSG was of no statistical significant difference (P = 0.06). In conclusion, both FTSGs and PCCGS are viable options in facial reconstruction, with no statistical difference in survival and cosmesis. They are simple and one-stage procedures. The PCCG is a smooth graft, containing a few sebaceous glands and possibly has less contraction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Lange Land Hospital, Toneellaan 1, 2725 KJ, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands. P.vandereerden@llz.nl
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van der Eerden
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zuur
authors.forename: Harm
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: van Tinteren
authors.forename: Hade
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vuyk
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004954:Esthetics; D005153:Facial Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006085:Graft Survival / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009669:Nose Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting / Q000379:methods; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult