A Skin-stretching Wound Closure System to Prevent and Manage Dehiscence of High-tension Flap Donor Sites: A Report of 2 Cases.

Tension on the suture line of flap donor sites raises the risk of delayed healing and wound dehiscence. Closing a large flap donor site without a skin/flap graft is a major surgical challenge. Recently, the authors started using a skin-stretching wound closure system designed to harness both mechanical creep and stress-relaxation principles for the management of a variety of surgically closed wounds, including flap donor sites. The system consists of a pair of attachment plates connected by a long, flexible approximation strap that can be invasively (sutured) or noninvasively (by adhesion) secured to the skin wound edges and gradually tightened. The care and outcomes of 2 of the 41 patients whose wounds were managed with this system at the authors\'92 plastic/reconstructive and wound repair center during a period of 7 months are described. The first case involved a 20-year-old patient with a 16 cm x 8 cm deep inferior epigastric perforator flap to reconstruct a malignant tumor resection of the groin. The second patient required a 10 cm x 8 cm anterolateral thigh free-flap to repair a traumatic dorsal skin, soft tissue defect. Wounds were assessed and tension adjusted every 2 or 3 days. Both lesions healed by primary intention and with a good cosmetic outcome. Controlled clinical studies are needed to examine the effectiveness, efficacy, indications, complications, and cost effectiveness of this closure system.