Effectiveness of Skin Graft in the Chest for Postburn Cervical Contractures

Skin grafts (SGs) offer a simple and reliable means of correcting postburn cervical contractures. However, their use has a high risk of contracture recurrence, as proper postoperative care is often difficult to perform. Splinting and pressure therapy are challenging in the neck, which has complex multidirectional mobility and contains critical structures. In contrast, the upper chest area, which also contributes to neck extension, has a relatively plane surface and rigid subcutaneous tissue, and is likely to be a more reliable site for pressure application. Here we report a case with good restoration of neck extension after using a split-thickness SG (STSG) only in the upper chest. A 22-year-old man with third-degree burns survived with the use of multiple SGs. Nine years later, he lacked a healthy donor site for a full-thickness SG or flap surgery. Although a split-thickness SG on the neck was performed for restricted cervical extension, severe contracture of the skin graft developed due to failure to continue postoperative pressure therapy. As a last resort, further surgery with a split-thickness SG was performed in the upper chest after releasing the contracture. With continued, successful postoperative pressure therapy, contracture of the skin graft was minimized. According to our survey of healthy volunteers, chest skin mobilization contributes to about 30% of cervical extension. This suggests that SG use in the chest is a reasonable option to reliability and effectively address restricted neck motility due to postburn contracture when a healthy donor site for a full-thickness SG or flap surgery is unavailable.