The Use of Pig Skin as a Temporary Biological Dressing

Sodium hypochlorite decontamination of split-thickness cadaveric skin infected with bacteria and yeast with subsequent isolation and growth of basal cells to confluency in tissue culture

“…Table 1 When the burn is greater than 40%o total body surface area, a serious problem is encountered because of the scarcity of donor sites. Although xenografts of pigskin (2,16) and artificial skin (8,15) and allografts of split-thickness cadaveric skin (1, 10, 16) are currently used as temporary burn wound coverage, these grafts eventually undergo rejection, thereby reopening the wound. The growth and differentiation of human epidermal cells in vitro to form a multilayered sheet whose structure closely resembles that of human epidermis (6) (7), but popular use of the antiseptic in medical practice did not attain prominence until Dakin used various hypochlorite solutions for the treatment of wounds during World War 1 (4,5).…”

“…It has been well documented that covering burned areas with pig skin (2,16) or human cadaveric skin (1,10,15) reduces the risk of lifethreatening infections in patients. However, these skin grafts are eventually rejected, reopening the areas to the risk of infection.…”

New Innovations for Deep Partial-Thickness Burn Treatment with ACell MatriStem Matrix

“…7 Studies have shown that porcine skin grafts reduce pain, decrease heat, protein, and electrolyte losses, offer physical protection, and decrease risk of infection. [7][8][9] ACell (ACell, Inc.) is one of the newest xenograft biological dermal substitutes composed of extracellular matrix (ECM) derived from porcine urothelium that is lyophilized and dehydrated. Products maintain their natural collagen structure-the intact epithelial basement membrane enabling natural healing and tissue remodeling-and are subsequently resorbed by the body.…”

In vitro and in vivo characteristics of frozen/thawed neonatal pig split-skin strips: A novel biologically active dressing for areas of severe, acute or chronic skin loss

“…During the past 40 years, adult pig skin in various forms (i.e. fresh, freeze-dried, preirradiated frozen, incorporating neomycin and/or silver ions, formaldehyde-fixed, glycerinated, lyophilised or nonlyophilised glutaraldehyde-fixed, and chlorhexidine-treated) has been by far the most popular xenograft used to cover burn wounds, donor sites, meshed autografts, areas of partial thickness skin loss, and non-healing cutaneous ulcers of various aetiology (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29). Adult porcine skin apparently has all the features of an ideal wound protective cover, such as tensile strength; tissue adherence; flexibility; water-vapour permeability; heat retention; a human skin-like histological structure (18) unless deeply altered by chemical treatments; anti-bacterial and pain relieving effects; lack of antigenicity; no toxicity; low cost; and long shelf-life (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29).…”

“…Adult porcine skin apparently has all the features of an ideal wound protective cover, such as tensile strength; tissue adherence; flexibility; water-vapour permeability; heat retention; a human skin-like histological structure (18) unless deeply altered by chemical treatments; anti-bacterial and pain relieving effects; lack of antigenicity; no toxicity; low cost; and long shelf-life (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29). Moreover, adult porcine skin xenografts were never vascularised (15,18,20,30,31), even though being at times partly included within the healing tissue (32). Despite a slight cellular infiltration at the wound bed/xenograft boundary, no significant levels of anti-donor pig antibodies were induced and no immunological reaction or rejection evoked (15,33).…”