Pc24. Comparison of Bilateral Gluteal Artery Perforator Flaps to Vertical Rectus Abdominis Musculocutaneous Flaps in Reconstruction of Perineal Wounds

Abstract

A) No Reconstruction, B) Skin-Only, C) Fat-Only, D) Immediate-Skin, Delayed-Fat, or E) Immediate-Fat, Delayed-Skin. Treatment pigs with Group E wounds then received either 1) Empty Microspheres or Dexamethasone as follows 2) Continuous/Sustained, 3) Immediate-Pulsed, 4) Delayed-Pulsed, or 5) Bimodal-Pulsed. At 8 weeks post-engraftment animals were sacrificed and all wounds were collected for photography, ultrasound, histology and serum studies. RESULTS:Fat-first reconstruction minimizes adhesions softtissue deficits, however, is limited by rapid early contracture which was mitigated by the skin-first approach. Early dexamethasone blocks contracture, however, sustained dosing limited skin graft take. Pulsed-dosing was permissive of skin grafts in the drug elution nadir. Combination fat-first with pulseddexamethasone resulted in significant reduction in adhesion, soft-tissue deficit, and contracture vs. skin-first approaches. CONCLUSION:Here we demonstrate augmentation of a fat-first approach by timed-release dexamethasone to safely mitigate contracture, adhesion, and soft-tissue deficits vs. current reconstructive standards for complex burn wounds.