Rekonstruktion des Gesichts bei Verbrennungen

Reconstruction of the face in patients who have suffered major burns is a complex undertaking, both the primary treatment and the transplantation technique being of considerable importance for the final result. As well as the functional reconstruction of scar contracture, ectropion and incomplete lid closure, cicatricial stenostomia and cicatricial obstruction of the nostrils, techniques that are mainly known from aesthetic surgery are now used: hair transplantation, laser resurfacing of scarred skin, and epilation are some examples of such techniques. These additional surgical treatments, which are often used in a late phase after burn injury, can improve the way the patients are accepted and their quality of life. In the setting of our increasingly cost-oriented health system it is important not to lose touch with these aims. These measures, which may in themselves seem to be trivial and therefore unnecessary and to offer potential savings if they are discontinued, should not be withheld from burn patients.