Experience in dealing with complications of tissue expanders

Aim. To study the experience in dealing with complications induced by tissue expander in treatment of scar. Methods. 1999-06/2002-05 164 patients with scar received tissue expander treatment in the Scar Center, including 75 males and 89 females, aged 4-56 years. Two hundred and fifty-four tissue expanders were used in the patients, and complications were found in 43 expanders. Results. The complications induced by 43 tissue expanders including infection, hematom, protrusion and nonexpansion. The incidence rate was 16.9%, including 43 times of complications, 17 times of expander protrusion and 12 times of nonexpansion. Conclusion. The overall decrease in absolute and relative complications result from the increased operative experience as well as a developed protocol for the prevention of operative complications related to infection and expansion in high-risk anatomic sites. The ideal dilation is related with the clinical condition, including age, skin flexibility and tolerance of patients.