Closure of Fasciotomy Wounds: A Prospective, Observational Study of a Continuous External Tissue Expander

After IRB approval, all patients meeting inclusion criteria and requiring fasciotomy of the arms, legs, or pelvis will be consented for participation in the research study. Patients will either have their fasciotomy wounds closed through application of the Dermaclose device, as per the manufacturer's instructions, or through application of vessel loops with staples in a "shoestring technique" as described in the literature (1). Choice of wound closure technique will be at surgeon discretion. All patients will undergo application of a vacuum-assisted wound closure device (Wound VAC, Active Healing Solutions Inc, San Antonio, TX), which is standard of care for temporary coverage of open wounds (2, 3). Patients will be returned to the operating room every 2-3 days until wound closure or skin grafting has been accomplished. If skin closure is not accomplished in the operating room, but occurs prior to return trip to the operating room, then definitive suture closure of the wound will be performed under local anaesthetic, followed by removal of the Dermaclose device or of the vessel loop with staple shoestring. Decisions regarding wound closure or skin grafting in the operating room will be left to the judgment of the attending surgeon.