Intraoperative expansion of skin around large congenital naevi with foley catheter balloons: 11 new cases.

Tissue expansion allows reconstruction of large cutaneous defects with adjacent skin, similar in appearance and type, without using skin grafts or multiple, regional, distant, or microsurgical flaps. Conventional expansion produces a greater increase in surface and length than intraoperative expansion, but it has several disadvantages and should be reserved for closing problematic defects. There is considerable controversy about the relative effects of intraoperative expansion and undermining on the tensions of closing wounds, although immediate expansion is commonly used particularly in head and neck reconstruction. New multiple external devices have recently been described to expand skin externally, but there are few options as internal expanders. We have chosen multiple Foley catheter balloons, because of their availability and low cost, to repair 11 limb defects after excision of large naevi. The wounds are easy to close, primarily, and postoperative results are good. Dark pigmentation scars are the most common possible complications.