Acute cholecystectomy performed through cultured epithelial autografts in a patient with burn injuries: a case report

A teenaged white male, admitted with a 58% total body surface burn, was treated with extensive debridement and grafting. Cadaver skin was applied in preparation for grafting with cultured epithelial autograft (CEA). The abdomen and upper arms were then grafted with CEA applied over 6:1 meshed autograft with satisfactory take. The patient was discharged with his wounds healed on postburn day 67. Six months after this, he was readmitted with acute abdominal pain. A perforated gallbladder, diagnosed as acalculous cholecystitis, was found at exploratory laparotomy and removed. The laparotomy incision was made through the burned area grafted with CEA. The patient's recovery from his cholecystectomy and the healing of the postoperative cutaneous wound made through CEA were uneventful.