Increasing evidence for skin substitute efficacy in 2021

The year 2021 led to increasing consensus on the role of skin substitutes in closing hard-to-heal wounds.¹ The Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC), along with its members, have continued to strive to fulfil its mission to advance the care of patients with and at-risk of wounds, through contributions to this growing library of evidence.

Promising studies examined non-human grafts that provide extracellular matrix (ECM) structure and composition, while differing in their source and decellularisation processing techniques. These include:

The porcine peritoneum-derived matrix was executed as a 12-person pilot study,⁴ and FBADM was evaluated in a 226-person randomised controlled trial (RCT).² FBADM was found to be a faster and more effective treatment for diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) than standard of care (SOC) alone. Importantly, all products in the skin substitute or cellular and/or tissue-based products space demonstrated safety while others exhibited varying desirable features such as bactericidal activity, low scarring, and improved wound healing.^2,3,4,5 Continuing maturation of non-human allograft options promises a broader supply of skin substitute materials with greater patient access.