Lacerations / Traumas Reconstruction

Laceration repair requires a number of steps to allow the wounds to heal in an optimal fashion. The quality of your healing depends on a number of factors, some of which can be helped during treatment, while others cannot. Dr.Karatzias will go over each detail with you during your treatment to ease your worries and to give you as much information as possible. This will allow you to heal in the best way possible. The most important factors that influence wound healing are:

• Your own intrinsic healing capacity: At the most basic level, each person has unique characteristics or genetic influences that affect wound healing. Some patients may heal with a barely perceptible scar, while others may heal with a thicker, more visible scar that requires further treatment.
• Smoking: People who smoke heal at approximately half the rate of non-smokers. Furthermore, smoking increases the risk of severe scarring, infections, and failure of the wound repair.
• The mechanism of injury: Lacerations that occur in a straight line typically heal better than more jagged lacerations. Sharp lacerations typically heal better than avulsions (i.e. tears).
• Your medical history: Certain medical conditions such as diabetes mellitus and certain medications such as chemotherapy agents inhibit wound healing and can increase the risk of infection and less than optimal wound healing.

There are a number of different methods to repair lacerations. As a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, Dr.Karatzias uses only meticulous plastic surgery techniques. This includes gentle handling of tissue, careful tissue approximation, and the use of fine sutures for wound closure.

Dr Karatzias usually avoids the reconstruction of wounds in childs under local anaesthesia. Kids do not handle pain appropriately and cannot accept the procedure of suturing as a treating act. The psychological trauma that is created to the child is huge. Holding under violence a kid to stitch a laceration can also be devastating for the parents. Dr Karatzias prefers reconstructing traumas in kids under minor sedation of the child in order not to have any bad memories of the incidence. This protocol allows the doctor to perform under best conditions and reconstruct in the best way the wound.

While infection is rare, you should expect to have some evidence of the laceration in the future (i.e. a scar). Dr.Karatzias has a number of techniques to help minimise post-treatment scarring, including topical medicines, non-invasive laser treatments, compression garment therapy, and later surgical revision if necessary. Scar maturation takes between 12 and 18 months to complete. During this period you will see the scar change from slightly firm, red, and raised, to a flat, soft, lighter scar. Dr. Karatzias will guide you through the entire process to ease your worries and to ensure you heal to your best capabilities.