Background: Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is an option for securing meshed split thickness skin grafts (mSTSGs) after burn excision to optimize skin graft adherence.Recently, the use of autologous skin cell suspension (ASCS) has been approved for use in the treatment of burn injuries in conjunction with mSTSGs.To date, limited data exists regarding the impact of NPWT on healing outcomes when the cellular suspension is utilized. It was hypothesized that NPWT would not negatively impact wound healing of ASCS + mSTSG. Materials and Methods:A burn, excision, mSTSG, ASCS ± NPWT model was used. Two Duroc pigs were utilized in this experiment, each with 2 sets of paired burns. Four wounds received mSTSG + ASCS + NPWT through post-operative day 3, and 4 wounds received mSTSG + ACSC + traditional ASCS dressings. Cellular viability was characterized prior to spraying. Percent reepithelialization, graft-adherence, pigmentation, elasticity, and blood perfusion and blood vessel density were assessed at multiple time points through 2 weeks.Results: All wounds healed within 14 days with minimal scar pathology and no significant differences in percent re-epithelialization between NPWT, and non-NPWT wounds were observed. Additionally, no differences were detected for pigmentation, perfusion, or blood ves-✩ This work was funded by AVITA Medical. The NWPT devices were obtained as a donation from KCI. Dr. Shupp is a consultant for AVITA Medical.

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Burn injury is debilitating and among one of the most frequently occurring traumas. Critical care improvements have allowed for increasingly positive outcomes. However, infection, whether it be localized to the site of the wound or systemic in nature, remains a serious cause of morbidity and mortality. Immune suppression predisposes the burn population to the development of invasive infections; and this along with the possibility of inhalation injury puts them at a significant risk for mortality. Emerging multi-drug-resistant pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Enterobacter, and yeast spp., continue to complicate clinical care measures, requiring innovative therapies and antimicrobial treatment. Close monitoring of antimicrobial regimens, strict decontamination procedures, early burn eschar removal, adequate wound closure, proper nutritional maintenance, and management of shock and resuscitation all play a significant role in mitigating infection. Novel antimicrobial therapies such as ultraviolet light, cold plasma and topical antiseptics must continue to evolve in order to lower the burden of infection in burn.