CASE REPORT article
Front. Med.
Sec. Dermatology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1670005
This article is part of the Research TopicExploring Innovative Therapies for Rare Inflammatory Skin DiseasesView all 14 articles
Two Cases of Staged Combined Treatment for Complex Skull-exposing wounds: Synergistic Effects of Mechanical Tension and Moist Wound Healing
Provisionally accepted
- Mianyang Central Hospital, Mianyang, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Complex skull-exposing wounds complicated by repeated surgical failures, implant-associated infections, and a history of targeted drug therapy present substantial challenges for reconstruction. This study retrospectively analyzed two such cases to evaluate the clinical outcomes of a staged treatment strategy integrating a sustained skin-stretching device (SSD) with moist wound therapy. Case 1, with four previous failed surgeries, achieved complete closure within 40 days, with no recurrence during six months of follow-up. Case 2, after three debridement procedures, achieved closure in 45 days with stable scar formation and no dehiscence at six months. The treatment protocol incorporated SSD with silver ion dressings, recombinant human basic fibroblast growth factor (rh-bFGF), mussel adhesive protein-based dressings, and Moist Exposed Burn Ointment (MEBO), supplemented by surgical debridement as required. Controlled mechanical tension and an optimized moist microenvironment promoted progressive wound edge advancement, effective infection control, and tissue regeneration. The findings indicate that staged mechanical traction combined with moist wound dressings may represent a minimally invasive and effective approach for managing complex cranial wounds.
Keywords: Skull exposure, staged therapy, Sustained skin-stretching device, Moist wound healing, Complex cranial wounds
Received: 22 Jul 2025; Accepted: 25 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lin, Ma, zeng, Zhang and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yan Zhang, Mianyang Central Hospital, Mianyang, China
Hongyuan Liu, Mianyang Central Hospital, Mianyang, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.