Collagen membrane for reconstruction of soft tissue defects after surgery of oral cancer and precancer: a brief review

Abstract

There are some surgeries after which a temporary cover for raw wounds is required to ensure healing. Some of those circumstances are loss of tissue due to burns, trauma, amputation, chronic ulcer, leprosy, and skin graft sites. Although the body initiates regeneration mechanisms, however the time taken for complete healing of wounds is unpredictable. Also, there is a tendency for long standing wounds to undergo infection and scarring. Oral mucosa is no exception to scarring and infection of wounds and there has always been a search for new materials that can be used for coverage of oral defects. Xenogenous collagen is one such grafting material. Over the years collagen implant solutions for a number of clinical applications include general surgery, burn surgery, neurosurgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, oral surgery, and peripheral nerve and tendon surgery. This paper aims to focus on collagen as an effective option of wound closure in plastic and reconstructive surgery of the head and neck, especially after loss of soft tissue following resection of oral malignancies.

Accidental Local Infiltration of Formalin into the Buccal Mucosa: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

“…Many collagen dressings contain an antimicrobial agent to inhibit the growth of pathogens within the wound. 11 To the best of our knowledge, the present case is the first to report successful surgical reconstruction of the defect with the aid of collagen membrane.…”

Efficacy of collagen membrane graft in intraoral surgery - An evaluative study

“…Vastani et al reviewed that collagen is one such biomaterial that can be safely and effectively used for coverage of oral defects following surgery of oral cancer and precancer owing to a number of benefit. [ 6 ]…”

“…[ 1 2 3 4 ] One of these materials is collagen which is extensively used as temporary dressing material in a lot of surgical fields. [ 5 6 7 ]…”

“…It can also be used in leukoplakia,[ 6 7 10 ] in Oral Submucous Fibrosis (OSMF)[ 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 ] in palatal defects,[ 16 17 ] in perforation of maxillary sinus membrane[ 18 19 20 ] and in palatal fistula closure. [ 21 22 23 ]…”

Use of allograft dermal matrix for repairing large oral epithelial defects: Outcomes of patients with lingual and buccal leukoplakia

“…However, the donor sites for mucosal grafts are limited, and there is always morbidity associated with donor site healing. Collagen membrane can be used to cover buccal mucosa defects, followed by wide excision of the lesion; however, data pertaining to postoperative mouth opening of patients undergoing wide excision of the buccal lesion are limited 14 . An optimized material for reconstruction should possess the following properties: facilitation of vascular ingrowth, low propensity to incite inflammation, biological inertness, resistance to infection, and ease of handling 7 .…”