title: Clinical efficacy of artificial skin combined with vacuum sealing drainage in treating large-area skin defects.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To observe the clinical efficacy of artificial skin combined with vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) in treating large-area skin defects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Totally 18 patients with skin defects, treated with artificial skin combined with VSD from September 2008 to May 2009 in our hospital, were retrospectively analyzed in this study. There were 15 males and 3 females, aged 7-66 years, 34.3 years on average. Among them, 10 cases had skin laceration caused by traffic accidents (7 with open fractures), 1 mangled injury, 1 blast injury, 1 stump infection combined with skin defects after amputation and 5 heel ulcers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All skin grafts in 16 cases survived after being controlled by VSD for one time. For the rest 2 patients, one with skin avulsion on the left foot was given median thickness skin grafts after three times of VSD, the other with open fractures in the left tibia and fibula caused by a traffic accident was given free flap transplantation. Skin grafts of both patients survived, with normal color and rich blood supply.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Skin grafting in conjunction with artificial skin and VSD is much more effective than traditional dressing treatment and worth wide application in clinic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430060, China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Wei-chun
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Sheng-hao
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D004322:Drainage / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D022125:Lacerations / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011182:Postoperative Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D017768:Skin, Artificial; D014619:Vacuum Curettage; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000601:surgery*