Banks of Cryopreserved Skin from Live Donors and Total Skin Allografts in the Surgery of Major Burnt Patients

Abstract

Scarectomy and prompt coverage are some of the main cornerstones of the actual treatment of major burnt patients. This coverage can be definitive using autologous tissues or temporary with allografts, xenografts, and/or biosynthetic products. Skin allografts (SAs) are the gold standard therapeutic alternative among temporary coverages, since they mimic skin functions. However, cadaveric skin donation and procurement, a common SA source, are infrequent. On the other hand, there is a significant number of patients that, given their health condition, large amounts of skin must be resected for their clinical recovery, including patients submitted to corporal contouring surgeries with esthetic and/or reconstructive motives, usually eliminating the redundant skin as biological waste. This study describes a skin bank model from live donors and cryopreserved total skin cutaneous allografts (CTSCAs), a new type of SA resulting from a particular skin processing.