Objective: : In lower-extremity surgery, the complex wound with bone exposure remains a challenging problem for the plastic surgeon. The purpose of this study was to describe a new therapeutic approach to stimulate the regeneration of the lower-extremity complex wounds based on a combined treatment composed of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and hyaluronic acid (HA) dressing.
Design: : Wounds with posttraumatic bone exposure have been treated with HA dressing alone or in combination with PRP.
Patient: : Fifteen patients affected by lower-extremity wound with posttraumatic bone exposure have been treated at the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
Results: : After a single treatment, the authors observed that the mean re-epithelialization time was 8.1 weeks in 73.3% patients treated with PRP and HA dressing versus the 30% patients treated with HA dressing only.
Conclusion: : These data confirm the evidence of using PRP technology in the healing of both soft- and hard-tissue wounds. Moreover, the satisfaction of the patient confirms the quality of this study's results.