Lateral Lower Face and Neck Contouring Following Burn Injury

The neck is normally a concave and highly mobile structure. Facial and cervical skin is prone to burn scar contracture because of its thin nature. The goal of treatment is to reconstruct this region to achieve a good aesthetic outcome and also normal neck and chin mobilization. This study was conducted to compare the effect of one row of suture and three rows of suture in critical points of the neck to recreate cervicomandibular angle for better contouring of the neck. A cross-sectional study was performed from July 2006 until August 2010. A total of 65 patients underwent lower lateral face and neck burn scar contracture reconstruction. The mean age of participants was 25.5 years old. After designing a local flap, in 31 patients we applied one row of suture. In 34 patients, we used three rows of suture on each side of the neck incorporation with the recipient bed and the flap dermis or capsule to recreate a natural lower lateral face and neck contour (P<0.001). The standard deviation in hospitalization was 7 ± 2 days for group A and 6 ± 1 days for group B. In a two years follow-up, no blunting of cervicomandibular angle occurred and three rows of suture were superior according to present findings.