Aplicaciones de la dermis artificial para la prevención y tratamiento de cicatrices hipertróficas y contracturas

over the last 8 years, 517 patients were admitted to our centre with burn injuries; of these, 48 had reconstruction with artificial dermis. we present a group of 8 extensively burned patients, who were treated with integra？ during the acute and later phases to prevent and treat hypertrophic scars and contractures. the following variables were evaluated: haematoma, infection and total or partial loss of artificial dermis. the scar quality was reviewed during the postoperative period, using the vancouver scar scale (vss). patients′ satisfaction was measured using a 0-10 score survey. none of the areas treated with artificial dermis showed adverse scarring and in patients with prior hypertrophic scars no recurrence was found. we also observed that in acute burns, the areas treated with artificial dermis developed much better scar quality compared with those areas treated with split skin grafts. we achieved satisfactory coverage in areas with tendon exposure. artificial dermis can be selectively applied to special areas during acute burn injury to prevent scar hypertrophy and contracture. it can also be used as coverage for normally non-graftable structures less than 3 cm where skin flaps are usually required. during the chronic stage, artificial dermis can be useful to treat contractures, as well as hypertrophic scars.