Videocapillaroscopy study of post traumatic lower limb loss of tissue treated with and without acellular dermal substitute

Abstract

A 46 years old male with a post traumatic loss of tissue localized on the anterior surface of the right thigh and knee due to a road accident, was treated with different surgical reconstructive techniques. Combined use of autologous skin graft and acellular dermal substitute Integra^® allowed the satisfactory recovery of the patient who was discharged after 82 days from the trauma. To analyse the characteristics and the quality of the healing tissues we performed a videocapillaroscopy study to assess the microcirculatory pattern of the autologous skin grafted on the dermal substitute in comparison with the autologous skin grafted on granulation tissue. The videocapillaroscopy was performed in the zone skin grafted directly on granulation tissue, Zone 1 (Z1); on the region of the lesion in the knee, treated with dermal substitute and autologous skin graft, Zone 2 (Z2), and on the undamaged controlateral knee skin. Zone 3 (Z3). The results showed that the capillary density was similar between Z2 and Z3, while in Z1, the zone skin grafted on the granulation tissue without Integra^® the capillary density was significatively reduced. These preliminary observations within the clinical data may be an useful contribute to better understand the tissue healing process.