Applications of soft tissue expansion in children.

The ability to increase available local tissue by controlled soft tissue expansion has led to a rapid increase in the use of this technique in clinical practice. Our experience in the treatment of children with a wide variety of lesions, in all body areas, demonstrates the advantages and benefits of this relatively new procedure for the pediatric age group. While complications such as infection, implant exposure, deflation, hematoma, and seroma may occur and alter the timing of reconstruction, they rarely compromise the final result. Tissue expansion offers many advantages in soft tissue reconstruction in children when tissue of color, texture, and characteristics similar to that of the defect may be limited.