Immediate skin grafting of sub-acute and chronic wounds debrided by hydrosurgery.

A wound bed may be prepared by various non-surgical debridements using autolytic, biological or enzymatic techniques. These are all effective in selective wounds but tend to be time consuming. Surgical debridement is not selective since healthy collateral tissue is also removed. Physical debridement uses whirlpool therapy to slough off necrotic tissues - the saline which comes out of the hand piece if vapourized over the wound - and therefore disseminates contaminated droplets. Hydrosurgery combines physical and surgical debridement but does not have their drawbacks. Water dissection works by using a high-pressure jet of sterile saline that travels parallel to the wound and creates a Venturi effect, thus enabling the selective removal of necrotic tissues without dissemination of contaminants. In this study, the authors report on 167 sub-acute and chronic wounds from 155 patients treated under general anaesthesia by hydrosurgery (Versajet). Of these, 95% of the debrided wounds were immediately covered with an autologous meshed graft. Compared to other debridement techniques, hydrosurgery has two main advantages: namely its tissue selectivity and its high percentage of successful engraftment after immediate skin grafting.

[Sensibility of the abdomen after high superior tension abdominoplasty]. / Sensibilité de la paroi abdominale après abdominoplastie haute tension.

INTRODUCTION: Patients who undergo an abdominoplasty frequently complain about the loss of sensibility of the abdominal wall. In this study, we analyze this sensibility after the high tension abdominoplasty. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a prospective study of 23 females operated between July 2003 and January 2005. The abdominoplasty technique used in our study combines extensive liposuccion, limited undermining centered on the linea alba and traction sutures. The sensibilty tests are carried out preoperatively, as well as at 3 and 6 months postoperatively. The three components of the skin sensibility -tactile, algesic and thermic- are evaluated in four differents areas of the abdomen. RESULTS: In the lateral areas of the abdomen (liposucted only), the thermoalgesic sensibility is diminished at 3 months and completely recovers at 6 months. At 3 months postoperatively, the tactile sensibility is even better than the preoperative one and continues to improve by 6 months. The postoperative hypogastric area is widely undermined during surgery. In this area, the three types of sensibility are heavily altered at 3 months and only partially recover at 6 months. The undermining of the postoperative epigastric area is limited. In this zone, the postoperative thermoalgesic sensibility is diminished at 3 months, but completely recovers at 6 months. At 3 months, the tactile sensibility is less than the preoperative one, but it improves with time to even exceed the preoperative values at 6 months. CONCLUSION: The high tension abdominoplasty only needs a limited undermining and largely preserves the innervation of the abdominal flap. Only the hypogastric area, largely undermined, presents a sensitivity loss. These results are better than those previously reported in the literature.