[Our experience with tissue expansion on a series of 50 cases in Vietnam]

The authors reviewed their experience with tissue expansion from July of 1995 to December of 1999 at Hanoi Plastic Surgery Center. A total of 75 tissue expanders of various sizes were placed in 50 consecutive patients (16 men and 34 women) for the reconstruction of secondary defects (burn scars, skin graft scars, hypertrophic scars, keloids, capillary hemangioma, congenital nevi and micotia). The average age of patients was 21 years. The tissue expansion protocol was used in clinical as well as common principle. The main technical details are modified in this procedure by the authors: type of intralesional incision for expander insertion, closing of wound incision by three layers, evacuation of the liquid in the prosthesis pocket, injection with antibiotic solution and expanded flap capsulectomy. The complications rate was 10.6% (8 complications in 75 expanders). The most common complications consisted of infection, hematoma, exposure of valve, dehiscence of incision, necrosis of the distal expanded flap. The overall failure rate was 8%. Thus our modified surgical details allowed us to decrease the major complications and to achieve the best possible functional and aesthetic results.