Degloving Soft Tissue Injuries of the Extremity: Characterization, Categorization, Outcomes, and Management

• Published in: Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open 2020-11, Vol.8 (11), p.e3277-e3277
• Main Authors: Velazquez, Christine, Whitaker, Litton, Pestana, Ivo A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Hand/Peripheral Nerve; Original
• ISSN: 2169-7574; 2169-7574
• DOI: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000003277

BACKGROUND:We aimed to identify degloving soft tissue injury (DSTI) patient characteristics, injury and reconstruction patterns, and factors affecting outcomes of DSTI injuries to propose a reconstructive protocol for these injuries. METHODS:A retrospective analysis of consecutive patients with DSTIs of an extremity over a 22-year period has been done. RESULTS:188 patients with 201 extremity DSTIs were included. Mean patient age was 37 years, with follow-up of 19.6 months. In total, 96% of injuries were related to motor vehicles or machinery, and 74.6% of DSTIs had injuries to structures deep to skin/subcutis. The avulsed tissue was utilized in reconstruction in 71.6% of cases and 86.8% of these experienced some loss of the used avulsed tissues. Of the total cases, 82% employed skin grafting in reconstruction. Dermal regeneration templates were used in 32% of patients. An estimated 86.5% of patients had negative pressure wound therapy utilized. Of the injured patients, 21% required flap reconstruction and 22% required some form of amputation. Age, body mass index, and tobacco use did not increase perioperative complications or amputation. DSTIs with injury to structures deep to skin/subcutis were associated with negative pressure wound therapy use (P = 0.02). DSTIs with underlying fractures required more procedures to reach reconstruction completion (P = 0.008), had more minor (P = 0.49) and major perioperative complications (P = 0.001), longer time to heal (P = 0.002), and increased need for amputation (P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS:Factors affecting the reconstructive management and outcome of DSTIs include injury to structures deep to the skin/subcutis. We categorized DSTIs based on the level of injury and proposed a systematic approach to extremity DSTIs which may be utilized by plastic surgeons and other surgical services to manage these complex injuries.