Management of complex scalp defects after excision of malignant tumors

• Published in: Revista Brasileira de cirurgia plástica Vol. 37; no. 4; pp. 494 - 497
• Main Authors: Otsuka, Ana Carolina Vasconcellos Guedes, Santos Filho, Ivan Dunshee de Abranches Oliveira, Campagnari, Mariane, Lobo, Matheus de Melo, Bertolli, Eduardo, Neiva, Renata Otoni, Carvalho, Fernanda Sulian De, Duprat Neto, Joao Pedreira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Cirurgia Plástica 01.12.2022
• Subjects: artificial; negative-pressure wound therapy; scalp; skin; skin neoplasms; wound healing
• ISSN: 2177-1235; 1983-5175; 2177-1235
• DOI: 10.5935/2177-1235.2022RBCP.627-en

Introduction: Scalp reconstruction after cancer resection remains a challenge for surgeons, especially considering the increasing incidence of skin cancer among elderly patients. Dermal matrix (DM) is a heterogeneous group of wound covering materials that aid in wound closure and replace some of the skins functions, either temporarily or permanently. Patients at higher surgical risk can benefit from the use of DM, which help to generate a new dermis, offering great improvements in coverage of complex and extensive defects Methods: It is a retrospective study with analysis of medical records and report of two cases of patients at the A.C.Camargo Cancer Center-SP, Brazil. Results: We report two cases of complex and extensive scalp defects at a single center using DM associated with skin grafting and negative pressure therapy (NPT) in reconstructive surgery after resection of malignant skin neoplasm with satisfactory functional and esthetic results. Conclusions: Extensive lesions of the scalp are a challenge in clinical practice and a multidisciplinary treatment is essential. The results obtained indicate that DM associated with partial skin grafting and NPT have enormous potential to increase the therapeutic options available to the surgeon and possibly benefit patients, especially those who do not have the clinical conditions for extensive coverage surgery with microsurgical flap.