Dr Markus Öhlbauer

Head of Plastic Surgery / Burn Center; BG Trauma Center Murnau; Paracelsus Medical Private University Salzburg

Reconstructions of large full-thickness skin and soft tissue defects with exposed bradytropic tissue like bones or tendons are usually performed with flaps. However, certain medical conditions especially in severe injuried or fragile patients contraindicate these types of surgery. In those circumstances, dermal regeneration templates can provide an alternative solution to flap surgery, but then are routinely used in a two-stage procedures which will take weeks to get a final result.

We here report our 19-years experience using the dermal matrix MatridermⓇ for defect coverage in exposed bradytrophic tissue.

One-stage salvage reconstructions were successfully performed with MatridermⓇ and split-thickness skin grafts in more than 90 percent of all cases. In the remaining cases split-thickness skin grafting was performed two-stage after 7 to 10 days.

Minimum two-years follow ups showed an excellent functional outcome: beside excellent long-term stable defect coverage high elasticity and high pliability of the scar could be achieved. Up until now, no areas with unstable scars occurred and no surgical scar revisions were required, so that Matriderm showed to be an excellent reconstruction method for exposed bradytrophic tissue, from initial one-stage defect coverage to scar development.

Biography:

Dr. Öhlbauer received a medical degree from the Medical University of Innsbruck. He then went on to fellowships at the BG Trauma Centers in Hamburg and Ludwigshafen. After completion of plastic surgery training in Innsbruck, he moved to Burn Center Ludwigshafen/University Heidelberg as Head Consultant.

He is the current Head of Plastic Surgery and Burn Center at the BG Trauma Center Murnau in Upper Bavaria near Munich. He is a member of German Society of Burn Medicine and has been a significant driving force in the use of dermal substitutes in burn patients. He has a strong involvement in the education and training of undergraduate and graduate students and in plastic surgery training. As a plastic surgeon, he has a high interest in wound healing by dermal substitutes especially in severe injured patients.