Annals of plastic surgery
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Annals of plastic surgery · Nov 1999
Skin flap survival after superficial and deep partial-thickness burn injury.
Whether a flap can be raised successfully in a body region that has been subjected to burn injury remains an issue. The aim of this study was to investigate the survival of skin flaps that were elevated after superficial and deep partial-thickness burn injury in a rat model. Sixty-five rats were divided into five groups: Group 1 (N = 15) was the control group, group 2 (N = 10) included rats with superficial partial-thickness burns that had flaps elevated on day 0, group 3 (N = 15) was comprised up of rats with superficial partial-thickness burns that had flaps elevated on day 4, group 4 (N = 10) included rats with deep partial-thickness burns that had flaps elevated on day 0, and group 5 (N = 15) was comprised of rats with deep partial-thickness burns that had flaps elevated on day 4. ⋯ The surviving portions of flaps that were elevated on day 4 in superficial partial-thickness burn zones (group 3) were similar to the surviving areas of flaps in the control group (group 1), and were larger than those of all other groups (groups 2, 4, and 5). In this rat model, flaps were elevated in superficial dermal burn zones with successful outcomes. However, raising flaps in deep dermal burn zones was not a reliable method.