Surgical Treatment of Dermatomal Capillary Malformations in the Adult Face

Background Facial capillary malformations (CMs) rarely recede; they often become darkerand raised in proportion to their growth. These malformations may hypertrophy in adulthood,resulting in increased disfigurement and dysfunction. Laser treatment is considered a first-linetherapy for focal CMs, but thick wide lesions, which are accompanied by hypertrophy and havea well-circumscribed nodularity, may be treated with surgical excision and reconstruction.Methods We retrospectively reviewed the records of 25 consecutive patients who had undergonecomplete or partial excisions of facial capillary malformations in our unit. After the excisions,the defects that encompassed their facial aesthetic units were subsequently covered by variousmethods, including primary closures, local flaps, expanded flaps, split-thickness skin grafts, andfull thickness skin grafts.Results The data demonstrated satisfactory results and reliability. Our patients were treatedwithout significant complications, and all of the patients were moderately or fully satisfiedwith the outcome of their surgeries.Conclusions Among the many reconstructive options for adult patients with facial capillarymalformations, thick split-thickness skin grafts can be a good choice for the coverage of widelyexcised wounds.