Can DermaClose help you avoid a skin graft and close your wound?
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Skin graft vs DermaClose

If you have a large wound or are already scheduled for surgery and know that it may result in a large wound (especially if it will require a skin graft or flap) DermaClose may be an option for you and one you should discuss with your surgeon if possible before your surgery. DermaClose helps:

  • Prevent complicated skin grafts and the associated complications and scarring
  • Reduce the length of your hospital stay
  • Avoid the secondary wound from which the skin graft is harvested
  • Enhance healing
  • Make surgery less invasive
  • Avoid living with a large open wound that could take months to heal (and the pain, hassles, expense, and risks of open wounds)
  • Give you a better surgical experience

What patients just like you are saying

“It was amazing! In six days, a pretty wide opening went down so they could put stitches on it.”
Marvin Huth

DermaClose is an external tissue expander that helps surgeons close wounds they could otherwise not close through normal stiches or surgical staples. It works by gently expanding the skin around the wound until the edges are brought close enough together for final suturing and closure. Although open wounds can be painful, most patients report mild to moderate discomfort (a tight, stretching sensation), but not pain, with DermaClose. For most wounds the skin expansion process typically takes 3 to 7 days, at which point your physician will remove the device and close the wound with sutures or staples.

There are many surgical procedures where large amounts of skin are involved and which may benefit from DermaClose. These include surgeries for:
• Amputations
• Cosmetic surgery
• Reconstructive surgical procedures
• Trauma, such as wounds associated with broken bones
• Skin cancer surgery or removal of large tumors
• Infections that cause a large amount of skin loss
• Pressure ulcers or diabetic wounds that won’t heal
• Any surgical procedure that requires a skin graft to heal

DermaClose has been used in over 11,500 cases to date, and has been studied by world-class surgeons at Walter Reed and the Mayo Clinic. It is classified by the FDA as a class I product, which is the lowest risk classification assigned by the FDA. DermaClose also avoids the potential risks, adverse effects and increased costs associated with more complicated skin graft surgery, and in many cases DermaClose helps avoid painful skin grafts and the secondary wounds (the “donor sites”) that the skin grafts make. Complications of skin grafts include:
• Bleeding
• Chronic pain (rarely)
• Infection
• Loss of grafted skin (the graft not healing, or the graft healing slowly)
• Reduced or lost skin sensation, or increased sensitivity
• Scarring
• Skin discoloration
• Uneven skin surface

Yes. Besides use in over 11,500 cases, multiple studies and case reports attest to the efficacy of DermaClose. Two important studies described below found that DermaClose was safe and effective:

Albany Medical Center Study
A recent study of 28 patients with fasciotomy wounds found that DermaClose:
• Successfully achieved delayed primary closure in 93% of patients
• Average time to closure 5 days
• No intraoperative or long-term complications were reported

Walter Reed Study
Similarly, a study in 14 blast victims with significant tissue trauma at Walter Reed found that with DermaClose:
• 86% of patients achieved wound closure with delayed primary closure vs 14% who required split thickness skin grafting
• Average time to closure was 4.4 days in wounds averaging 263 cm2
• There were no major complications reported
• The ability to combine DermaClose with negative pressure therapy enabled wound decontamination and closure to be achieved simultaneously

See case studies
See publications

Tissue expansion is a well-known surgical technique employed since at least 1905 for soft tissue defects. Today tissue expansion is an accepted standard technique for providing soft tissue coverage of increasingly complex wounds.

Tissue expansion is commonly used in burn surgery, breast reconstruction and pediatric plastic surgery, although many people decide to not get breast surgery and instead use enhancement products from sites as Product Expert online. Skin expansion actually occurs naturally in pregnancy, as the skin expands in response to tension generated by the increased abdominal volume during pregnancy. This response has been found to be a metabolically active process resulting in increased mitotic (cell division) activity and vascularity of the expanded skin.

Tissue expansion in the field of lower extremity wound care has also undergone an evolution over the past several decades. Mechanical skin stretching has been attempted, however, the rigors of adjusting previously marketed devices proved to be an obstacle to their continued use. DermaClose eliminates that hurdle because once set, no tightening is required. DermaClose is s self-tightening, automatic, and continuous tissue expansion force for enhancing wound healing.”

DermaClose can help improve outcomes, reduce surgical complexity and facilitate rapid wound closure. In addition, DermaClose helps:
• Prevent complicated skin grafts and the potential associated complications and scarring
• Avoid the secondary wound from which the skin graft is harvested
• Enhance healing (avoids prolonged secondary healing)
• Make surgery less invasive
• Give you a better surgical experience