#4TH DEGREE BURN TREATMENTS SKIN#

The patient is a 29-year-old male who was seriously burned by molten steel (about 1,500☌) from the top of the head throughout the body, in an accidental furnace explosion. The patient was observed for 2 years, and the quality of life is evaluated.

#4TH DEGREE BURN TREATMENTS SKIN#

This article is a summary of our experience with the treatment of a patient with an extraordinarily large deep burn (99.5% TBSA and 23% fourth degree burn) by using the “microskin autografting and alloskin repeated grafting” method to close the wound because of scarcity of skin sources. Even though the patient is saved, the patient’s quality of life remains an increasing concern, both on the part of clinicians and society. Autologous transplantation of cultured keratinocytes can provide adequate skin sources for wound closure, but the long cultivation time, high cost and rigorous technology requirements limit its application in developing countries. Therefore, micro-skin autografting is more suitable for application to severely burned patients who have a scarcity of skin sources.

MEEK skin grafting can expand the donor skin by 3–9 times, and micro-skin autografting can do this 10–15 times larger. For extensive severe burn wounds repair, there are 3 major solutions: MEEK skin grafting, Chinese-originated micro-skin autografting, and transplantation of cultured epidermal cells. However, in patients with a scarcity of skin sources, treatment of large fourth degree burns remains a great clinical challenge. The salvage rate of large burns has improved steadily in the past 10 years in China.

4th degree burn treatments