Treatment of burns by tissue-engineering

Abstract

Burns remain a prevalent and burdensome critical care problem. In Republic of Moldova frequency of thermal trauma is 52,5 in adults and 78,2 in children cases per 100,000 population, with a significant decrease in recent years; the general mortality decreased too, 6,3-8,4% in adults and 2,5-1,4% in children [1,2]. The priorities of specialized facilities focus on stabilizing the patient, preventing infection, and optimizing functional recovery [3]. Skin grafts remain the gold standard for wound closure, but unfortunately, it is not usually possible to cover the entire burns with autologous grafts, and another alternative cover is needed as tissue-engineered skin replacement: cultured autologous/allogeneic keratinocyte grafts, cultured autologous/allogeneic fibroblast grafts, autologous/allogeneic composites, acellular collagen matrices etc.