Treatment of tangential excision for third-degree burns with adipose tissue reserved

Objective To observe the clinical effect of tangential excision and skin grafting for third-degree burns with adipose tissue reserved.Methods There were 162 cases of third-degree burn on extremities admitted in the hospital from January 2000 to January 2008,which were divided into two groups.Group A was 92 cases of tangential excision and skin grafting,and group B was 70 cases of skin grafting.Two groups were compared the appearance after wound healing(e.g.thickness and goodliness),the feeling of functional movement of patients' joints,the survival rate of grafted skin,and the time of wound healing.Results Group A:compared to normal extremities of another side,healed wounds were soft,fleshy and elastic.The perimeter of extremity reduced by 3.8% which was not significantly different from normal side(P0.05).Functional activities,congestive short limbs,and numb feeling reduced.Group B:the appearance changed distinctly.The perimeter of extremity reduced by 20.5% which was significantly different from normal side(P0.05).The hyperaemia time was longer which was significantly different from normal side,and the numb and tumid feeling was intense.However,there were no significant differences between two groups about the survival rate of grafted skin and the time of wound healing(P0.05).Conclusion It can maintain the appearance of limb better and facilitate the rehabilitation of functional movements of joints to reserve the healthy adipose tissues before skin grafting in escharectomy on extremities for third-degree burns.