Treatment of post-burn upper extremity, neck and facial contractures: report of 77 cases.

Background: Post-burn contractures severely deteriorate life quality. We aimed to present our treatment protocols for post-burn sequelae and the contractures that cause functional limitations.

Methods: Seventy-seven cases with post-burn contracture were treated in our clinic. Post-burn contractures occurring after a burn injury affected the upper extremity, face and neck in 60, 17 and 6 cases, respectively. Skin grafts, local flaps such as advancement flaps, Z-plasties, K-plasties, regional flaps such as posterior interosseous flap, tissue expanded flaps, and free flaps were used according to the severity of the contractures.

Results: In one patient with type II axillary contraction, recurrence was seen. Full range of motion was achieved in the 3.6-year follow-up period in elbow contractures. Eight of 71 phalangeal joint contractures recurred. Two patients underwent reoperation for neck contracture recurrences.

Conclusions: Excellent results were seen with prefabricated flaps, which were used for the facial reconstruction.