Objective: To investigate the possibility of treating deep partial-thickness burns by closed dressing of the wounds with porcine acellular dermal matrix (ADM) and evaluate the therapeutic effects.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of 128 cases of burn patients who received treatment with porcine ADM within the period from January 1998 to January 2002 in our hospital. Different procedures were adopted according to the degree of the burn injury. As for "fairly superficial" deep partial-thickness skin burns, after removing the necrotic epidermis and washing with 0.1 % benzalkonium bromide, the wound was covered with porcine ADM pretreated with povidone-iodine and then bandaged with cotton gauze and bandages. In cases of "fairly deep" deep partial skin thickness burns, eschar excisions as deep as to expose parabiotic lamina were performed prior to dressing the wounds in the same manner as described above.
Results: All the patients were successfully treated with satisfactory clinical results.
Conclusions: Porcine ADM is feasible as an efficient dressing material for deep partial-thickness burns, which may promote epithelialization in the wounds and help stabilize the patients' condition during burn shock stage to reduce the complications and shorten the treatment courses.