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• Skin has unique healing properties: DEJ is important for wound healing
o Basal layer of Keratinocytes has active stem cells
• Most of the skin’s biomechanical properties are derived from the collagen and elastin in
the dermis (dense CT network)
o Elasticity is important for wound closure and reconstruction
• Skin varies greatly throughout body: scalp is super thick while eyelids are the thinnest
(has no subcutaneous fat and lies directly on the muscle)
Cosmetic Units
• Boundaries or junctions of anatomic units on the face
• Have similar characteristics: pigmentation, texture, pore size, and
sebaceous quality
• These boundaries should be marked before local anesthesia
• They provide good places to electively place incisions (minimizes
scars)
Facial Skin Tension Lines
• Redundant skin forms wrinkles: pulling of the muscles of facial expression
on the skin and loss of elasticity (age-‐related)
• Lines occur perpendicular to the underlying muscles
• Incisions should be along the lines for best results
Facial Topography and Bony Structures
• Bony landmarks: frontal, maxillary, zygomatic, and mandibular bones
• Zygomatic arch: most prominent bone of lateral cheek
o Posterior aspect defines superior pole of the parotid gland, superficial temporal
artery and some branches of the facial nerve
• Mastoid process most inferior portion of temporal bone
o Landmark for the emergence of the facial nerve trunk (stylomastoid foramen)
• Important foramina: supraorbital, infra-‐orbital and mental; found along vertical line
o Important for nerve blocks (anesthesia)
Facial Muscles
• Facial nerve (CN VII) innervates muscles of facial expression
• Periorbital and perioral area muscles insert directly into skin= more
prominent wrinkles
• Branches of the facial nerve (To Zanzibar By Motor Car): Temporal,
Zygomatic, Buccal, Marginal mandibular, and Cervical
o Protected by the parotid gland posteriorly
o Non-‐protected area: temporal region, after they emerge from
behind parotid gland
• Injury to temporal nerve= flattening of the forehead with drooping of
the eyebrow
• Zygomatic branch: orbicularis oculi, procerus, elevators of the lip
o Damage= inability to tightly close eyelids, possible ectropion,
and inability to show the upper teeth
• Buccal branch: orbicularis oris, buccinator
o Damage= trapping of food between gums and cheek
• Marginal mandibular branch (most distal): depressor anguli oris,
depressor labi inferioris, mentalis
o Damage= inability to show lower teeth and crooked, asymmetric
smile
Arterial Supply
• Facial artery (branch of ECA): palpated as it crosses mandibular rim
o Antero-‐superior course to oral commissure® angular artery in
medial cheek® anastomosis with ophthalmic artery
• Abundant blood supply reduces risk of damage
Anesthesia and Analgesia
• Most skin surgery can be performed under local anesthesia:
o Interrupts propagation of nerve impulses by inhibiting Na+ influx into peripheral
nerve cells
• Local anesthetics: aromatic portion, intermediate chain and amine portion; two groups
depending on intermediate chain
o Ester-‐type: shorter duration of action (rapidly hydrolyzed by plasma
pseudocholinesterase
§ Procaine, tetracaine, benzocaine, cocaine
o Amide derivatives (two “i”): metabolized by enzymes in liver (hepatic disease
increases susceptibility to toxic effects)
§ Lidocaine, prilocaine, bupivacaine and mepivacaine (Cat C, careful if
pregnant)
• pKa of local anesthetics and pH of tissue influence pharmacologic activity
o Alkalization of anesthetic increases onset of action (faster effect)
o Infected tissues (abscess) are more acidic= impaired effectiveness
• C-‐type and A-‐delta fibers are anesthetized first= pain and temp sensations are lost
before loss of vibration and pressure
o Anesthetized patients may still feel pressure during procedure
• Additives to loca anesthesia
o Epinephrine (Cat C): decreases bleeding and retards absorption
§ Full vasoconstriction requires 7-‐15 minutes
• Nerve block: to anesthetize a large area of skin, inject anesthesia at major cutaneous
nerve trunk
Biopsy Techniques
Shave biopsies (tangential, parallel) Punch biopsies
• Epidermal or exophytic lesions • Deeper tissues for evaluation of dermal
• Not useful if deep margin of a tumor lesions or processes
needs to be visualized • Hollow, metal, sharp cylinder (like straw),
2-‐8mm
• Advantage: ability to sample full
thickness of the skin and evaluate dermal
pathology
• Inflammatory skin disease® punch
biopsy
Incision and Drainage
• Tx of furuncles, abscesses and inflamed cysts
• If fluctuance is appreciated, incision and drainage may be necessary (req local
anesthesia); wound heals gradually
o Small tab incision® lateral compression® culture of material® irrigation (saline)
Elliptical excision
• Most commonly used, for benign and malignant legions
• Length:with ratio of 3:1 to reduce redundancies formation, resulting in
long thin scar
• Use anatomic “hiding places”: skin tension lines or borders of cosmetic
units
Subcutaneous/Dermal Stitches
• Placement gives prolonged dermal support which decreases chance of wound
dehiscence
• Important for good support and healing (uneven stitches result in step-‐off deformity)
Suturing: first do dermal, then epidermal stitches
Simple interrupted • Needle is place 3-‐5mm from wound edge perpendicular to the skin
surface
• Needle is directed downward into skin, rotated through the tissue to
the opposite wound edge
Vertical mattress • Decrease wound tension and provide support while everting wound
edges
• Penetration of the dermis then reverse direction introducing needle
through epidermis
• “Far-‐far-‐near-‐near”
Horizontal mattress • Decrease and redistribute wound tension and evert wound edges
• Good for homeostasis
Running cuticular • Individual stitches placed in succession without interruption by knots
• Requires previous dermal stitches (provide long term support);
cannot be used alone
Running subcuticular • Multiple horizontally placed dermal sutures placed in succession
on alternating wound edges
• Closure of wound without visible suture marks; good cosmetic
results
Choices of Reconstruction
• Once lesion is removed; begin with the simplest choice
• Second intention healing (simplest)® linear repair® local flaps® skin grafts®
interpolation flaps (most complex)
1-‐ Second Intention Healing
• No stitches; best for concave areas (NEET)
o Nose, Ears, Eyes, Temple
• The location, not the size or depth, better predicts cosmetic outcome
2-‐ Primary (Linear) Closure
• In areas with redundant skin; if not, anatomical area may
become distorted
• Crescent stitches may be used to follow relax-‐tension
lines of cheek
3-‐ Local Flaps
• Transfers tissue from an area with abundant skin to an
area in which skin is limited; restore skin with similar
qualities
Advancement Rotation Transposition
• Creation of rectangular pedicle (uni • Rotation= principal movement • Useful for wound on the nose
or bilateral) • Redirection of wound closure tension • Bilobed flap (most common):
• Flap is advanced linearly • Curvilinear incision along arc adjacent arrangement of two connected
• A-‐T (bilateral): incision to the primary defect transposition flaps with secondary
along a cosmetic boundary • Uses abundant donor tissues and tertiary defects
so one line of repair is • Usually for large defects in inferior
hidden cosmetically eye lid
• Burrow’s advancement flap:
displace tissues from an area where
excision is more appropriate
• Rhombic flap: simpler, just one
lobule
• Island pedicle flap: most of its
vascular supply derives from the
subcutaneous pedicle; for perinasal
and upper lip defects
4-‐ Skin Graft
• Portion of skin that has been separated from vascular supply (it is reestablished at
recipient site)
• Disadvantages: creation of second surgical wound site and sub-‐optimal tissue
color/texture match if improper donor site is selected
Full-‐thickness (epidermis and dermis) Split-‐thickness (mainly epidermis)
• Better overall appearance and less wound contracture, • Lack of adnexal structures (sweat glands, hair follicles)
but increased metabolic demand • Disadvantages: less cosmetically desirable color and
• Donor sites: pre/post-‐auricular skin, supra-‐clavicular, texture match and higher chance of contracture
inner upper arm, melolabial folds, upper eye lids • Advantage: ability to cover large defects and higher
• Nose: preauricular skin, conchal bowl, supra-‐clavicular, likelihood of graft survival
nasolabial • Tool: Zimmer electric dermatome
• Ear: pre-‐auricular, post-‐auricular sulcus • Donor sites: upper thigh, lateral hips, inner aspect of
• Lower eye-‐lid: upper eyelid, post-‐auricular sulcus upper arms, lower back, abdomen
5-‐ Interpolation Flaps
• The base of the flap’s pedicle resides some distance from the surgical wound
(non-‐contiguous); blood supply from a main artery
• For larger or full-‐thickness surgical defects
• Flap is sectioned 3 weeks after insertion
• Para-‐median forehead flap (most used): forehead skin is recruited for nasal
defects, vascularity based on the supratrochlear artery
Mohs micrographic surgery
• Provides complete microscopic margin control, uses horizontal frozen histologic sections
• Provides highest cure rate and highest tissue preservation
• Allow for complete tumor extirpation
• Bread loaf method: standard excision
o Allows for skip areas large enough to allow tumor to be undetected (examines
<1% of margins)
o Surgery may have residual tumor and recurrence
• Indications for Mohs:
o Tumors: recurrent or incompletely excised, indistinct borders, aggressive
subtypes, arising in sites of previous radiation therapy, unusual cutaneous tumors
o High risk areas: eyelids, nose, ear, nasolabial folds, lips, periorbital, temples,
pre/post-‐auricular areas, scalp
o Cosmetically and functionally important areas: head, neck, genital, anal, hand,
foot, nail units
o Immunocompromised patients
• Advantages: surgeon immediately knows if surgical margins are free of tumor, allows for
best repair, less skin is removed
• Disadvantage: se tarda cc
Cryosurgery
• Application of low temperatures to destroy tissue; use cryogens (liquid nitrogen)
o Open (spray) or closed (contact or probe)
• Less invasive, rapid and more cost-‐effective alternative
o Good for elderly or pts with comorbidities
• Benign lesions: HPV, molluscum contagiosum, seborrheic keratosis, solar lentigo,
hypertrophic scars, keloids, hemangiomas, pyogenic granuloma
• Premalignant/malignant: actinic keratosis, basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell
carcinoma of Bowen’s disease