A way of "making" more skin...

Tissue expansion enables the body to "grow" extra skin for use in reconstructing almost any part of the body. A silicone balloon-like expander is inserted under the skin near the area to be repaired and then gradually filled with sterile salt water over a number of weeks, causing the skin to stretch and grow. The procedure is used widely in breast reconstruction when there is not enough skin to accommodate a permanent implant to restore a woman's natural appearance. 

Dr. Bentkover uses tissue expansion most commonly for repairing or replacing areas of the scalp, most commonly in conjunction with skin cancer removal.   Tissue expansion is ideal for scalp repair, because the "expanded" skin on the scalp retains normal hair growth. Following tissue expansion, the repaired scalp looks very natural. Tissue expansion also generally produces excellent results when reconstructing other areas of the face and neck, the hands, arms, and legs.

Advantages and disadvantages

Before tissue expansion, surgeons were limited with regard to the types of skin flaps and skin grafts they could use to reconstruct damaged or missing tissue. Tissue expansion, however, provides an added technique with several advantages. First, expansion offers a near-perfect match of color, texture, and hair-bearing qualities. Second, because the skin remains connected to the donor area's blood and nerve supply, there is a smaller risk that it will die. In addition, because the skin does not have to be moved from one area to another, scars are often less apparent.

On the other hand, skin expansion has one significant drawback-the length of time required to grow additional skin. The process usually takes 3-4 months total, during which time there may be a visible bulge as the expander is gradually enlarged with weekly injections. Also, the procedure requires repeated visits for injection of the salt water that inflates the balloon. Despite these drawbacks, tissue expansion can produce very natural looking results.