The use of artificial dermis (Integra) and topical negative pressure to achieve limb salvage following soft-tissue loss caused by meningococcal septicaemia

Application of a meshed artificial dermal scaffold and negative-pressure wound therapy in the treatment of full-thickness skin defects: a prospective in vivo study

Artificial dermal scaffolds (ADSs) have great value in repairing deep skin defects. However, problems such as unsatisfactory angiogenesis and local dropsy or empyema often occur, resulting in delayed or even failed wound healing. Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is an effective therapy to promote wound healing or shorten wound bed preparation time. Studies on whether it can improve the effects of ADSs have never been interrupted, and no consensus has been reached. In this study, an improved ADS was prepared by mesh technology, physicochemical experiments were conducted, cell adhesion and proliferation were assessed with the meshed ADS, and in vivo experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of meshed ADS or ADS combined with NPWT in repairing full-thickness skin defects. The results showed that the meshed ADS showed through-layer channels arranged in parallel longitudinal and transverse intersections. The cell experiments confirmed the good cytocompatibility. The in vivo experiments showed that there were no differences in the take rate or contraction of grafted skin among all experiment groups. The meshed ADS exhibited good histocompatibility, and there were no differences in tissue inflammation, dermal angiogenesis, or degradation among all groups. In addition, necrosis, dropsy, or empyema of the dermal scaffold were found in all experiment groups except for the meshed ADS + NPWT group, which showed better wound repair results, including fewer scaffold-related complications and satisfactory skin graft survival and wound contraction. In conclusion, this novel meshed ADS, which has a regular through-layer mesh structure and possesses stable physicochemical properties and good biocompatibility, combined with NPWT can ensure adequate subdermal drainage and reduce the risk of scaffold-related complications, thereby improving the quality and efficiency of wound repair, promoting a broader application of biomaterials, and helping physicians and readers implement more effective wound management.

Integra® Dermal Regeneration Template in Complex Scalp Reconstruction

Background/Objectives: The need for surgical reconstruction of scalp defects following the excision of cutaneous skin cancers is an increasingly common procedure. Particular challenges arise when considering options for reconstruction of large defects not amenable to local skin flap coverage. The use of skin grafts poses the risk of donor site morbidity. This paper investigates the emerging use of Integra®, a synthetic acellular dermal regeneration template, as an alternative or adjunct to skin grafting in scalp reconstruction. Methods: The study presents a retrospective analysis of 101 patients who underwent Integra®-based reconstruction of scalp defects. Demographics, procedure details, complications, need for further surgery, and time to healing were evaluated. Results: The overall success rate of the one-stage Integra®-only procedure was 95%, with a minor complication rate of 30.7%. Anticoagulation medication was identified as an independent risk factor for post-operative infection, while previous head and neck radiotherapy and increased defect depth were associated with the requirement for a second-stage skin graft. Conclusions: These findings support the consideration of Integra® as a safe and viable alternative for both partial and full thickness scalp defects in a select cohort of complex highly co-morbid patients, reducing complications and the need for additional procedures.

The Use of Integra Dermal Regeneration Templates and Cortical Bone Fenestrations over Exposed Tibia

We present the case of an 86-year-old woman who suffered full-thickness soft tissue loss secondary to degloving injury to the lower left limb, resulting in an exposed tibia. This patient underwent drilling to create artificial fenestrations in the cortical bone followed by placement of Integra dermal regeneration template. The technique of drilling fenestrations to expose underlying vasculature of cortical bone has not previously been described in its relationship with Integra dermal regeneration templates in large degloving injuries of the lower limb. This technique enabled us to perform earlier skin grafting and ultimately resulted in complete and timely wound closure. We present this case as a comparable alternative treatment in cases of reconstructive surgery secondary to severe burns or trauma to reduce the time required for successful wound closure over exposed bone in full-thickness tissue loss injuries of the lower limb.

Surgical outcomes in adults with purpura fulminans: a systematic review and patient-level meta-synthesis

Background

Cutaneous manifestations of purpura fulminans (PF) present many challenges for clinicians and surgeons. In a state of septic shock complicated by limb ischemia, surgical interventions are necessary to control the pathological cascade and improve patient outcomes. The objective of this article was to report etiologies and surgical outcomes associated with cutaneous manifestations in adults.

Methods

This systematic review and meta-analysis compared 190 adult patients with etiologies, signs and symptoms, and surgical outcomes associated with cutaneous manifestations of PF. The PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were systematically and independently searched. Patient and clinical characteristics, surgical interventions, outcomes, and complications were recorded.

Results

Seventy-nine studies were eligible for the systematic review, and 77 were eligible for meta-analysis using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) and Cochrane guidelines. A total of 71/190 (38%) cases reported surgical debridement. Fasciotomies were reported in 12/190 (6%) cases and 20 procedures. Amputations were reported in 154/190 (81%) cases. Reconstruction was reported in 45 cases. Skin grafts were applied in 31 cases. Flaps were used for reconstruction in 28 cases. Median (IQR) surgical procedures per patient were 4 (4, 5) procedures. Infectious organisms causing PF were 32% Neisseria meningitidis (n = 55) and 32% Streptococcus pneumonia (n = 55). Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (95% confidence interval (CI)(8.2-177.9), p = 0.032), Haemophilus influenza (95%CI (7.2-133), p = 0.029), Streptococcus pneumonia (95% CI (13.3-75.9), p = 0.006), and West Nile Virus (95%CI (8.2-177.9), p = 0.032) were associated with significantly more extensive amputations compared to other organisms.

Conclusion

This systematic review and patient-level meta-analysis found the most common presentation of PF was septic shock from an infectious organism. Neisseria meningitidis and Streptococcus pneumonia were equally the most common organisms associated with PF. The majority of cases were not treated in a burn center. The most common surgeries were amputations, with below-the-knee-amputations being the most common procedure. Skin grafting was the most commonly performed reconstructive procedure. The most common complications were secondary infections. Organisms with significantly more extensive amputations were coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, Haemophilus influenza, Streptococcus pneumonia, and West Nile Virus. Interpretation of findings should be cautioned due to limited sample data.

EWMA Document: Negative Pressure Wound Therapy

1. Introduction Since its introduction in clinical practice in the early 1990's negative pressure wounds therapy (NPWT) has become widely used in the management of complex wounds in both inpatient and outpatient care.¹ NPWT has been described as a effective treatment for wounds of many different aetiologies^2,3 and suggested as a gold standard for treatment of wounds such as open abdominal wounds,^4-6 dehisced sternal wounds following cardiac surgery^7,8 and as a valuable agent in complex non-healing wounds.^9,10 Increasingly, NPWT is being applied in the primary and home-care setting, where it is described as having the potential to improve the efficacy of wound management and help reduce the reliance on hospital-based care.¹¹ While the potential of NPWT is promising and the clinical use of the treatment is widespread, highlevel evidence of its effectiveness and economic benefits remain sparse.^12-14 The ongoing controversy regarding high-level evidence in wound care in general is well known. There is a consensus that clinical practice should be evidence-based, which can be difficult to achieve due to confusion about the value of the various approaches to wound management; however, we have to rely on the best available evidence. The need to review wound strategies and treatments in order to reduce the burden of care in an efficient way is urgent. If patients at risk of delayed wound healing are identified earlier and aggressive interventions are taken before the wound deteriorates and complications occur, both patient morbidity and health-care costs can be significantly reduced. There is further a fundamental confusion over the best way to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions in this complex patient population. This is illustrated by reviews of the value of various treatment strategies for non-healing wounds, which have highlighted methodological inconsistencies in primary research. This situation is confounded by differences in the advice given by regulatory and reimbursement bodies in various countries regarding both study design and the ways in which results are interpreted. In response to this confusion, the European Wound Management Association (EWMA) has been publishing a number of interdisciplinary documents^15-19 with the intention of highlighting: The nature and extent of the problem for wound management: from the clinical perspective as well as that of care givers and the patients Evidence-based practice as an integration of clinical expertise with the best available clinical evidence from systematic research The nature and extent of the problem for wound management: from the policy maker and healthcare system perspectives The controversy regarding the value of various approaches to wound management and care is illustrated by the case of NPWT, synonymous with topical negative pressure or vacuum therapy and cited as branded VAC (vacuum-assisted closure) therapy. This is a mode of therapy used to encourage wound healing. It is used as a primary treatment of chronic wounds, in complex acute wounds and as an adjunct for temporary closure and wound bed preparation preceding surgical procedures such as skin grafts and flap surgery. Aim An increasing number of papers on the effect of NPWT are being published. However, due to the low evidence level the treatment remains controversial from the policy maker and health-care system's points of view-particularly with regard to evidence-based medicine. In response EWMA has established an interdisciplinary working group to describe the present knowledge with regard to NPWT and provide overview of its implications for organisation of care, documentation, communication, patient safety, and health economic aspects. These goals will be achieved by the following: Present the rational and scientific support for each delivered statement Uncover controversies and issues related to the use of NPWT in wound management Implications of implementing NPWT as a treatment strategy in the health-care system Provide information and offer perspectives of NPWT from the viewpoints of health-care staff, policy makers, politicians, industry, patients and hospital administrators who are indirectly or directly involved in wound management.

Platelet-rich fibrin as an alternative adjunct to tendon-exposed wound healing: A randomized controlled clinical trial

BACKGROUND

The use of platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) has attracted great interest in the treatment of oral and maxillofacial procedures, gingival recessions, and bone healing. However, PRF has been reported hardly to prepare wound bed before skin grafting. This randomized clinical study sought to identify the effect of PRF as an alternative adjunct to tendon-exposed wound healing.

METHODS

Thirty-six patients with tendon-exposed wounds were treated by applying Integra or PRF (n=18 per group). The take rate of Integra or PRF and pain levels assessed with the four-point verbal rating scale (VRS-4) for the first 5days after application were measured for each condition. Data of texture change analysis were assessed and recorded for a duration of 3 months postoperatively.

RESULTS

The take rate was less in the Integra group than in the PRF group (92.39 vs 97.83 P<0.001). After surgery, compared to the Integra group, the patients in the PRF group reported significantly lower pain scores (P<0.001). Texture changes from the Integra group were rated higher than those from the PRF (P<0.001).

CONCLUSION

The use of PRF could be an option for tendon exposed areas where the wound is unfit for standard skin grafting or flap transfer.

Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections in the Vasculopathic Patient: Review of Literature

Background:

Necrotizing soft tissue infection is a surgical emergency associated with high mortality. Its presence in patients with risk factors for peripheral arterial disease such as diabetes mellitus is consistently associated with significantly poorer outcomes. Though it has been over a century since it was initially described in the literature, mortality rates remain high and treatment regimens are not standardized.

Materials and methods:

PubMed and Cochrane databases were searched for articles pertaining to necrotizing soft tissue infections. Articles were screened for relevance with the intent to compare outcomes in prospective studies of patients with diabetes mellitus or peripheral arterial disease. Patient demographics, clinical findings, mortality, rates of amputation, and morbidity were intended to be compared.

Results:

857 articles were identified, 165 duplicates were removed, and 6 prospective trials were identified for inclusion. Due to significant paucity of data, patient heterogeneity, and lack of standardization for surgical management, a descriptive review of the literature in relation to necrotizing soft tissue infections was pursued, with a focus on high-risk patients with peripheral arterial disease or diabetes mellitus.

Conclusions:

Early aggressive surgical intervention or major amputation may reduce mortality at the cost of increased disability and poorer quality of life in the long term, and may be appropriate in vasculopaths with poorly controlled diabetes and rapidly progressive fulminant infection. However, there is a deficiency in high-level evidence supporting surgical decision-making in this setting, with no standardized protocols for amputation. Future research will be needed to clarify the patient population who would benefit from radical amputation versus intention for limb salvage.

Skin tissue engineering advances in severe burns: review and therapeutic applications

Current advances in basic stem cell research and tissue engineering augur well for the development of improved cultured skin tissue substitutes: a class of products that is still fraught with limitations for clinical use. Although the ability to grow autologous keratinocytes in-vitro from a small skin biopsy into sheets of stratified epithelium (within 3 to 4 weeks) helped alleviate the problem of insufficient donor site for extensive burn, many burn units still have to grapple with insufficient skin allografts which are used as intermediate wound coverage after burn excision. Alternatives offered by tissue-engineered skin dermal replacements to meet emergency demand have been used fairly successfully. Despite the availability of these commercial products, they all suffer from the same problems of extremely high cost, sub-normal skin microstructure and inconsistent engraftment, especially in full thickness burns. Clinical practice for severe burn treatment has since evolved to incorporate these tissue-engineered skin substitutes, usually as an adjunct to speed up epithelization for wound closure and/or to improve quality of life by improving the functional and cosmetic results long-term. This review seeks to bring the reader through the beginnings of skin tissue engineering, the utilization of some of the key products developed for the treatment of severe burns and the hope of harnessing stem cells to improve on current practice.

Novel Use of Synthetic Acellular Dermal Matrix for Coverage of a Tibial Defect Following Resection of an Osteochondroma: A Case Report

The application of an artificial dermal matrix (Integra Life Sciences, Plainsboro, NJ) in the management of substantial burn injuries has been extensively documented. Use of an artificial dermal matrix has resulted in excellent outcomes and is free of the morbidity associated with harvesting free-tissue flaps. However, coverage of bony defects where the periosteum has been removed is often challenging. In the current report, we present a case wherein the use of an acellular synthetic dermis combined with split-thickness skin grafting resulted in successful coverage of a tibial defect following resection of an osteochondroma.

Exposed tibial bone after burns: Flap reconstruction versus dermal substitute

A 44 years old male patient had suffered extensive 3rd degree burns on both legs, undergoing thorough surgical debridement, resulting in both tibias being exposed. Approximately 5 months after the incident he was referred to the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery of the University Hospital Gent, Belgium, to undergo flap reconstruction. Free flap surgery was performed twice on both lower legs but failed on all four occasions. In between flap surgery, a dermal substitute (Integra(®)) was applied, attempting to cover the exposed tibias with a layer of soft tissue, but also without success. In order to promote the development of granulation tissue over the exposed bone, small holes were drilled in both tibias with removal of the outer layer of the anterior cortex causing the bone to bleed and subsequently negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) was applied. The limited granulation tissue resulting from this procedure was then covered with a dermal substitute (Glyaderm(®)), consisting of acellular human dermis with an average thickness of 0.25mm. This dermal substitute was combined with a NPWT-dressing, and then served as an extracellular matrix (ECM), guiding the distribution of granulation tissue over the remaining areas of exposed tibial bone. Four days after initial application of Glyaderm(®) combined with NPWT both tibias were almost completely covered with a thin coating of soft tissue. In order to increase the thickness of this soft tissue cover two additional layers of Glyaderm(®) were applied at intervals of approximately 1 week. One week after the last Glyaderm(®) application both wounds were autografted. The combination of an acellular dermal substitute (Glyaderm(®)) with negative pressure wound therapy and skin grafting proved to be an efficient technique to cover a wider area of exposed tibial bone in a patient who was not a candidate for free flap surgery. An overview is also provided of newer and simpler techniques for coverage of exposed bone that could question the universal plastic surgery paradigm that flap surgery is the only way to cover these defects.

Regenerative medicine as applied to general surgery

The present review illustrates the state of the art of regenerative medicine (RM) as applied to surgical diseases and demonstrates that this field has the potential to address some of the unmet needs in surgery. RM is a multidisciplinary field whose purpose is to regenerate in vivo or ex vivo human cells, tissues, or organs to restore or establish normal function through exploitation of the potential to regenerate, which is intrinsic to human cells, tissues, and organs. RM uses cells and/or specially designed biomaterials to reach its goals and RM-based therapies are already in use in several clinical trials in most fields of surgery. The main challenges for investigators are threefold: Creation of an appropriate microenvironment ex vivo that is able to sustain cell physiology and function in order to generate the desired cells or body parts; identification and appropriate manipulation of cells that have the potential to generate parenchymal, stromal and vascular components on demand, both in vivo and ex vivo; and production of smart materials that are able to drive cell fate.

Experience of Integra(®) in cancer reconstructive surgery

OBJECTIVES

Integra® has already established its role in acute burn injuries and scar management. It can also be used to cover non-vascularised wounds such as exposed bone resulting from trauma or tumour resection. The aim of this series was to review all cases that underwent Integra® reconstruction following cancer excision. In particular we were interested in the use of Integra for day-case and local anaesthetic procedures in cases where excision was required down to bone or tendon.

METHODS

All patients who had Integra reconstruction over a three-year period were prospectively followed. A total of 14 cases were identified for inclusion into the series. In each case patient factors such peripheral vascular disease, age and patient choice meant that traditional methods of reconstruction were not possible. As a result a staged Integra® reconstruction was performed.

RESULTS

The 14 cases comprised 11 (78%) males and 3 (22%) females with the majority being diagnosed with Squamous cell carcinomas, 3 (40%) or Malignant Melanomas, 3 (20%). The most common operative sites were digital (5) and scalp (6) in 72% of the cases. The average graft take was 87%. There were 4 early, 4 delayed and 3 late complications in a total of 8 patients mostly resulting in a delay in healing. In 6/14 patients (43%) there were no complications.

CONCLUSIONS

Tumour excision and wide local excision may leave patients with defects requiring complex reconstructive surgery. The options available are often compounded by various patient factors. In complex cases we have found the use of Integra® to be a safe and viable alternative to traditional methods of wound closure.

The use of the artificial dermis (Integra) in combination with vacuum assisted closure for reconstruction of an extensive burn scar--a case report

The artificial dermis Integra (Ethicon, Johnson & Johnson Medical, Norderstedt, Germany) is widely used in the treatment of excessive burn injuries. It is also used in reconstructive surgery when large soft-tissue defects could not be covered with local or free flaps. In this article a 25-year old patient who presented with an early childhood burn of the trunk and lower extremity was treated with Integra in combination with the vacuum assisted closure (V.A.C., KCI, Texas, U.S.A.) and split thickness skin grafting. The combination of the artificial dermal substitute with negative pressure therapy has lead to a complete healing of Integra and the skin graft. During the whole treatment sterile wound conditions were present and time-consuming dressing changes could be prevented. Hospital stay was shortened because the patient could be treated as an outpatient with an ambulant vacuum assisted closure device.