Reconstruction of postburn sequelae with expanded flaps.

The reconstruction of important skin shortages can only be done with local tissue after expansion has provided the skin demanded by the procedure. None the less, it is pointed out that the most important commitment is the planning of all the steps in the reconstruction, like a chess game, and the management of the expanded skin in the classical way as rotation, transposition, and advancement flaps. Nineteen patients with extensive alopecia and three patients with deformities of body contour and scars, were treated with a Radovan-type expander. The results exceeded all the predictable results with other techniques because all of them were 'impossible' cases for the classical reconstructive techniques. The complications are outlined, some of which are related to technical aspects.