New approaches for full-thickness grafting of the face

Abstract

In addition to the physical injury, deep burns of the face also can cause psychological injury. The purpose of this study was to develop new technical methods for improving engraftment of full-thickness autografts. Since 2017, autologous fibroblasts have been used for skin facioplasty of one full thickness autograft in Scientific Research Institue, Reginal Clinical Hospital No 1. Isolation of fibroblasts was performed by using an enzymatic method and a skin sample with an area of 10 cm2. Cultivation of autologous fibroblasts was performed for 22 days according to a standard procedure. The prepared culture of autologous fibroblasts was used together with a full-layer autologous transplant to close the wound on the face. We found that autologous fibroblasts provided faster adaptation of the autograft. There were no signs of fibrous tissue over the long term. We concluded that fibroblasts promoted rapid engraftment and adaptation of the full-thickness autograft. Improvement of facial plastic surgery methods can help achieve maximum cosmetic treatment results.