Closed Degloving Injury Following Exposure to a Sudden Shearing Force

 

Exposures that can result in a closed degloving injury:

(1) being run over by the tires of a motor vehicle

(2) rotating rollers

(3) other shearing force

 

Clinical findings:

(1) changes to the skin surface (friction burn, abrasions, ecchymosis)

(2) excessive mobility of skin and subcutaneous tissue

(3) hemorrhage between the fascia and subcutaneous fat with hematoma formation (can be aspirated with a syringe)

(4) dusky discoloration of affected area after several hours

(5) necrotic subcutaneous fat may become depressed relative to the surrounding viable tissue

 

The wound can be managed like a full thickness burn. The epidermis from debrided skin can be harvested for later placement.