Regeneration of dermal patterns from the remaining pigments after surgery in Eublepharis macularius (a case report)

Dermal injury of the Eublepharis macularius (leopard gecko) often results in a loss of the spotted patterns. The scar is usually well recovered, but the spots and the tubercles may be lost depending on the size and part of the lesion. This report presents a surgical attempting, in which the pigments in the edge of the remaining skin flap are partially preserved to maximally restore the natural pigmentation patterns during the course of dermal regeneration.

A four-year-old female lizard E. macularius was evaluated due to a subcutaneous tumor in the occipito-pterional portion behind its right eye. A solid tumor beneath the skin was surgically enucleated under general anesthesia. Then, the ulcerated skin was dissected away together with the tumor. The necrotic edge of the remaining skin flap was carefully trimmed to leave as much of the pigmented portions as possible on the outskirt of the skin flap. The scar was covered with the remaining skin flap, and the uncovered lesion was protected with Vaseline containing gentamicin. The lesion was rapidly covered with regenerated dermis within a week, and the epidermis with round and well-oriented pigmented spots were almost completely restored in four months.

The surgical suture of the skin flap after removal of the ulcerated margins resulted in the scar-free regeneration of the scales and the pigmented spots. And the pigmented spots of the remaining skin close to the lesion site might be a source of the regenerated spots.