Combined treatment with artificial dermis and basic fibroblast growth factor for cranial bone-exposing wounds.
OBJECTIVE
Cranial bone-exposing wounds should be resurfaced as soon as possible using flaps. However, early one-stage wound closure is sometimes difficult due to the poor general condition of the patient or equipment shortages. Artificial dermis composed of atelocollagen sponge is useful for reconstructing bone-exposing wounds. In addition, the treatment of wounds with basic fibroblast growth factor helps more severe wounds to heal faster. We employed combined treatment with artificial dermis and basic fibroblast growth factor to treat cranial bone-exposing wounds in 2 cases, and we describe these cases here.


METHODS
Case 1: A 56-year-old man suffered severe burns, which exposed the occipital bone and mandible, after attempting suicide. Case 2: A 79-year-old woman suffered a full-thickness skin defect on her forehead due to a fall, which resulted in her frontal bone being exposed. Both patients underwent combined treatment with artificial dermis and basic fibroblast growth factor, followed by free skin grafting.


RESULTS
The combined treatment promoted the formation of granulation tissue, which acted as a wound bed for the subsequent skin grafting. The free skin grafting resulted in the complete resurfacing of the patients' wounds.


CONCLUSIONS
Combined treatment with artificial dermis and bFGF is an easy, fast-acting, and effective way of preparing a favorable wound bed for skin grafting, and hence, is useful for the treatment of cranial bone-exposing wounds.
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, National Hospital Organization, Nagasaki Medical Center, Japan. Electronic address: saijo@nagasaki-mc.com.
Hiroto
H
Saijo
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, National Hospital Organization, Nagasaki Medical Center, Japan.
Kenji
K
Hayashida
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, National Hospital Organization, Nagasaki Medical Center, Japan.
Shin
S
Morooka
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, National Hospital Organization, Nagasaki Medical Center, Japan.
Masaki
M
Fujioka
D000058:Accidental Falls; D000368:Aged; D002056:Burns / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D003094:Collagen / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006097:Granulation Tissue / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D017768:Skin, Artificial; D012886:Skull; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D014945:Wound Healing
C059821:atelocollagen; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2; D003094:Collagen
Artificial dermis; Basic fibroblast growth factor; Cranial bone; Free skin grafting