Vacuum-assisted closure in the treatment of degloving injuries

Degloving injuries range from the occult, easily missed injury to obvious m assive tissue damage. The serious nature of these wounds is exacerbated by mismanagement. It is generally accepted that the degloved tissue should be excised, defatted, fenestrated, and reapplied as a full-thickness skin graf t. Dressings are required that provide gentle, evenly distributed pressure and avoid shear stress to the newly grafted skin. Numerous types of dressin gs have been devised but all are cumbersome and time-consuming. We have fou nd the Vacuum-Assisted Closure device to be a rapid, effective, and easy-to -use alternative to traditional methods. The authors examine their experien ce using a vacuum-assisted closure device to treat nine degloving injuries in 5 patients and discuss the important aspects in using this technique.