Burow's grafts

F. Peral Rubio, M.D.Department of Dermatology

Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena,

Seville, Spain

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Burow's grafts

Burow's grafts are full-thickness skin grafts that use adjacent lax skin as the donor site.

This technique has also been referred to as island grafts, dog-ear grafts or adjacent-tissue skin grafts.

Burow's grafts The operative technique is:

After a circular excision of the cutaneous lesion, we enlarged the excision line (towards one or both sides of the defect) following the relaxed tension lines.

We created a secondary triangular defect by excising skin that is then used for the graft (as donor site).

After adequate undermining, we proceeded to direct linear closure of this secondary defect.

Finally, the graft was placed and sutured in the remaining defect.

Burow's grafts

61-year-old man Presented a basal cell carcinoma on his

tragus.

Burow's grafts

Firstly, we make a circular excision of the cutaneous lesion (with tumour-free margins in case of skin cancer).

Burow's grafts

Following the relaxed skin tension lines, we enlarge the excision line towards one of the sides.

Burow's grafts

We will therefore leave a secondary triangular surgical defect.

This triangular donor tissue is excised and kept in physiological solution. As in any other graft, we must remove all adipose tissue from beneath the dermis before replacement in the wound defect.

We proceed to direct linear closure of this secondary defect.

Burow's grafts

Finally, the graft is placed and sutured in the remaining defect.

Sutures are removed at 10 days.

30 Days

30 Days