Treatment Strategy for Entire Lower Extremity Degloving Injury: A Case Series

Abstract

Degloving injuries over the entire lower extremities may result in significant complications such as infection and may even lead to death. Therefore, the establishment of an effective treatment strategy is important. In this study, we propose a treatment strategy after examining cases of patients with entire lower extremity degloving injuries. A retrospective analysis was conducted on three patients who were all treated according to the established strategy. We divided the strategy into three time sequences: initial treatment; intensive medical care and wound bed preparation for skin graft; and skin graft. The patients’ progress was assessed to demonstrate the efficacy of the strategy. Three female patients with no underlying diseases were included, and the mean age was 58.0±15.7 years (range, 44–75 years). The mean C-reactive protein level was the highest on day 3 after the injury and sharply reduced up to day 14.3 on average. After treatment, joint motion was limited in all cases, but it gradually improved with rehabilitation. Unfortunately, all patients suffered from post-traumatic stress disorders. We established a treatment strategy for patients with entire lower extremity degloving injury using a comprehensive approach and achieved satisfactory results.