Skin Substitutes and Alternatives

Abstract

Dr Shores has disclosed that he has no significant relationships with or financial interest regarding this educational activity. Dr Gabriel has disclosed that he is a member of the speaker's bureau for KCI. Dr Gupta has disclosed that he has no significant relationships with or financial interest regarding this educational activity. Drs Shores and Gupta disclosed that they plan to discuss unlabeled/investigational usage of a commercial product and will disclose this to the audience.Lippincott CME Institute, Inc. has identified and resolved all faculty conflicts of interest regarding this educational activity. PURPOSETo provide the specialist in skin and wound care with a review of skin replacement alternatives and their most common uses. TARGET AUDIENCEThis continuing education activity is intended for physicians and nurses with an interest in wound care and related disorders. OBJECTIVES After reading this article and taking this test, the reader should be able to: 1. Describe characteristics of skin and skin substitutes for grafting. 2. Identify indications for and uses of common grafting procedures and products.

Skin substitutes in dermatology

“…[1] Various types of skin substitutes have been studied and proven to be useful in the management of partial and full thickness burns. [6,7] They are effective, improve wound healing, and decrease the duration of hospitalization.…”

“…Newer technologies paved the way for bioengineered skin substitutes. [1,2] No perfect or ideal skin substitute exists. An ideal skin substitute is non-toxic, immunologically compatible, has low antigenicity, and does not transmit disease.…”

“…[1] The history of skin substitutes dates back to as early as 1500 BC when xenografts were used for wound coverage. [2] Xenografts gave way to homografts such as cadaveric skin, amnion, and autografts.…”

“…Skin substitute categories, select examples of commercially available products and their characteristics[1…”

Dermal Skin Substitutes for Upper Limb Reconstruction

“…7 They provide several biological and physiological properties of human dermis that allow and/or promote new tissue growth and optimize the conditions for healing.…”