Artificial skin may reduce need for grafts

[Surf n Turf]

Don't know if this is the right thread, and could not find it previously posted --- but I thought the Doc’s might find this interesting

A long-lasting artificial skin which is "fully and consistently integrated into the human body" has shown promising results in early clinical trials. The technology could revolutionize the treatment of burns and skin damage, offering a less painful alternative to skin grafts and reduced scarring. Paul Kemp and colleagues at British biotech company Intercytex, which developed the living "skin", say it appears to work better than other substitutes tried in the past – these have biodegraded in situ after a few weeks. Tests show the new membrane integrated fully by 28 days, producing a closed and healed wound site.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/...or-grafts.html



SnT

[Beach Bum]

Interesting article. It doesn't say where the fibrin is obtained- animals or plants. This is worth hearing more about.

[crash]

Makes me think of this stuff awhile back, forget what it was called but it was like a foam that was supposed to be used on large wounds. Would stop bleeding and heal faster. Was protein based or something like that so the body would basically just absorb it as it was healing its self. Was on tv a lot for a little bit, but I guess it must not have worked in the end because I haven't heard about it since..
little off topic but just what this made me think of...

[Doc Dutch]

All,

I have been doing some investigating and asking my fellow burn surgeons here at the Arizona Burn Center. We employ a number of "artificial skin substitutes" after burn excision for the simple to massively burned. They range from Integra, Transcyte, Alloderm as well as, cadaveric allografts, porcine grafts, etc. We use a number of other products prior to grafting as well. However, the question at hand is this new skin substitute, Intercytex or ICX-SKN. In regards to what the burn community knows, the word is not in yet. Little to none has been reported and it is not well known in the burn circles from what I have gathered, both from the clinical and the research side. This company is in Manchester, UK. There is a paper from Future Medicine, Regen. Med. (2007) 2(4), 363-370, that discusses the actual research on this product to date. In reading the abstract, they used 6 female subjects which is a very small number for a project but a start none the less. "The aim was to present the first human clinical data on an investigational living skin graft replacement that is being designed for application where tissue has been lost . . ." So, they are at a very early stage of trials.

One of my burn partners wrote to me and stated, "that without an autologous epidermis, I would expect that it would not close excised full thickness burns. If inventors are following the path of others before, we may see them in the exhibit hall at the American Burn Association. Time will tell." In all honestly, irrespective of this new product, my thoughts are that it will be 50 to 100 years before we see a medical lab grow skin with all the features necessary to re-approximate or reproduce what we were born with after it is damaged by flame and excised by surgeons and needs replacing (grafting). While we have come a long way in burn care and surgery, we have ages to go. Products like Cultured Epithelial Autografts are a step forward as is Integra, but we are far away from what everyone would love to see for burn patients. I will see what they have at the American Burn Association in Chicago this year and get back to you if there is anything new to report, however, we should keep a footnote about this product as we should with all new clinical trials. In time, it may be a valuable adjunct to burn care.

Thank you for allowing me to post. I hope this helps.

Dutch

[cold1]

Doc Dutch,
As a Volunteer FF I would like to say thank you for doing what you guys do. Burns are some of the worst injuries and it takes special people to work in that field and care for burned patients.

Thanks again.