Full-thickness skin grafts and perichondrial cutaneous grafts following surgical removal of cutaneous neoplasms of the head and neck

The objective of the study is to determine efficacy in terms of survival rate and cosmesis of "normal" full-thickness skin grafts (FTSGs) as compared to perichondrial cutaneous grafts (PCCGs) in facial reconstruction. A chart review of all facial reconstructions using FTSGs and PCCGs between 1995 and 2005 was undertaken. All patients were treated by the same surgeon. A total of 121 skin grafts were included in this study (70 FTSGs and 51 PCCGs). All patients were examined at days 5 and 10 to assess the viability of the graft. For esthetic evaluation, 70 photographs were available with a minimum follow-up of 6 months (42 FTSGs/59% of total; 28 PCCGs/54% of total). The photos were randomly shown to three raters, who had no previous knowledge about the graft being a FTSG or PGCG. The complete take rate of the FTSGs and of the PCCGs was respectively, 87% (9 failures) and 94% (3 failures) .This is no statistically significant difference (P = 0.1857). The cosmetic outcome of PCCGs overall scored better by the three raters. However, the esthetic rating between PCCG and FTSG was of no statistical significant difference (P = 0.06). In conclusion, both FTSGs and PCCGS are viable options in facial reconstruction, with no statistical difference in survival and cosmesis. They are simple and one-stage procedures. The PCCG is a smooth graft, containing a few sebaceous glands and possibly has less contraction.