Wound Care With a Porcine Extracellular Matrix After Surgical Treatment of Rhinophyma

Abstract

BackgroundRhinophyma surgery is commonly associated with prolonged wound healing and the need for multiple wound dressings.ObjectivesTo evaluate clinical outcome with a porcine extracellular matrix (ECM) after shave excision of rhinophyma compared with common wound care procedure.Materials and methodsRetrospective analysis of patients with common dressings (CD) compared with patients with additional ECM (OASIS) application. Clinical findings were assessed prior to treatment and at follow-up visit using the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS), Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS), and Rhinophyma Severity Index (RHISI).ResultsOverall, 28 patients (67.5 ±9.0 years) with a mean wound area of 33.9 (±8.5) cm² were included. After a mean follow-up period of 132 (±73) days, scales of POSAS, VSS, and RHISI showed significant ( P< .0001) reductions of 47.0% (±11.1), 56.0% (±12.0), and 62.3% (±14.3), respectively. Subgroup analysis showed no significant differences of aforementioned parameters between the ECM group ( n= 17) and CD group ( n= 11). In contrast, the number of dressing changes were significantly ( P< .006) less in the ECM group (1.4 ±0.8) compared with CD group (4.1 ±2.6). The ECM group showed a significant ( P< .017) shorter time to re-epithelization (10.5 ±1.7 days) than the CD group (13.1 ±2.2 days).ConclusionsThe application of porcine ECM is practicable and reduces the number of dressing changes and time to re-epithelization clearly. Crusts are scaling off spontaneously without any aggressive action needed. Our findings indicate that ECM application is a promising approach for rhinophyma wound care.