Assessment of outcome of using amniotic membrane enriched with stem cells in scar formation and wound healing in patients with burn wounds

Abstract

Background: In recent decades, various techniques include flaps and grafts have been deployed to heal deep burn wounds. All efforts tend to use a method which will cause faster epithelization and fewer scars. Amniotic membrane and stem-cells are shown to have unique properties in epithelization and wound healing for depth wounds. Objective: There are many studies in which the prevalence of using fresh amniotic membrane has been discussed as a biological dressing. In this study, we used frozen amniotic membrane enriched with stem-cells to evaluate the outcomes of this biological combination on epithelization rate, wound healing and scar formation in third-degree burn wounds.Method: In this study, we evaluated outcomes of using amniotic membrane enriched with stem-cells in the repair process of third-degree burn for 180 days after the reconstructive surgery. We divided the burn area into two sections of control (skin mesh graft only) and case (skin mesh graft with the dressing of amniotic membrane enriched with stem-cells). All patients were followed-up for 180-days to analyze the risk of infection, scar formation, and pain score during this period.Results: Our findings showed that there is a significant difference between pain score in case and control group only during the first 7-days of follow-up. The mean Vancouver scar scale score in case group is less than it in the control group and has a statistically significant relationship with it. Prevalence of infection in case and control group showed no statistically significant difference and yet, there was a significant difference between satisfaction in both groups.Conclusion: Using frozen amnion, in addition, to maintain the properties of fresh amnion, may reduce the risk of infection transfer. Also because of the unique properties of stem cells in reepithelization and wound healing, using amniotic membrane enriched with stem-cells may be an ideal dressing to treat depth wounds.Â