Allograft vs xenograft in preparation of wound for autograft

Biologic dressings are used extensively in bum centers as a temporary dressing to cover freshly excised or granulating wounds. In many places cadaver allograft skin is not available. We compared fresh rat aIlograft skin to frozen porcine xenograft skin as a temporary dressing following skin excision in unburned rats. Wounds were covered for seven days with aIlograft or xenograft and then autografted. The wound bed was assessed at time of autografting. and the amount of autograft take was measured seven days later: autograft skin take was 91% on allograft-prepared wounds and 82% on xenograft-prepared wounds. The study confinns that commercially prepared. frozen porcine skin xenograft provides a suitable wound cover for at least seven days if allograft skin is not available.