Objective: The ability to increase local tissue expansion has led to its rapid use in plastic surgery. This study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital, Lahore from June 2008 till June 2010, over a period of 3 years. A total of 20 patients of age 17-30 years with burn on face and neck area were selected after informed consent. 45 expanders were introduced on face and neck. All patients had 7 to 10 days post operative intravenous antibiotics on out door basis. Expander inflation was started after 8 to 10 days when the surgical scar had healed. Periodic inflation of the balloon expander was carried out twice weekly for a period of 6-8week,at the end of which the tissue expander was removed and reconstruction of face done. All surgeries were done under general anaes thesia and standardized photographs were taken before and after surgery . Indications for tissue expansion were, flame burn in 13 patients and acid burn in 7patients. Results: Out of 20 patients 15 (75% ) were females and 5(25% ) were males. 16 (80%) patients already had skin grafting done at another institution. Most common complication was infection 4%, for which expander had to be removed .There was no case of early expander exposure(first 3 to 4 weeks) and failure of expander mechanism or deflation. Conclusion: Tissue expansion is a safe and good technique with results far superior to skin grafting, especially on face with maximum color and texture match to the local skin.
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