Abstract
The use of skin allografts to temporarily replace lost or damaged skin is practiced worldwide. Naturally occurring contamination can be present on skin or can be introduced at recovery or during processing. This contamination can pose a threat to allograft recipients. Bacterial culture and disinfection of allografts are mandated, but the specific practices and methodologies are not dictated by standards. A systematic review of literature from three databases found 12 research articles that evaluated bioburden reduction processes of skin grafts. The use of broad spectrum antibiotics and antifungal agents was the most frequently identified disinfection method reported demonstrating reductions in contamination rates. It was determined that the greatest reduction in the skin allograft contamination rates utilized 0.1 % peracetic acid or 25 kGy of gamma irradiation at lower temperatures.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10561-016-9569-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
The use of skin allografts to temporarily replace lost or damaged skin is practiced worldwide
The search was applied to electronic databases MEDLINE and EMBASE from 1988 to July 7, 2014 using the following headings and text words: ‘‘skin,’’ ‘‘derm*,’’ ‘‘dermatoplast,’’ ‘‘allograft,’’ ‘‘anti-bacterial,’’ ‘‘anti-fungal,’’ ‘‘sterilization,’’ and ‘‘tissue banking’’
Twenty-nine studies were excluded for varying reasons as listed in Online Resource 3
Summary
The use of skin allografts to temporarily replace lost or damaged skin is practiced worldwide. Occurring contamination can be present on skin or can be introduced at recovery or during processing. This contamination can pose a threat to allograft recipients. The use of broad spectrum antibiotics and antifungal agents was the most frequently identified disinfection method reported demonstrating reductions in contamination rates. It was determined that the greatest reduction in the skin allograft contamination rates. J. Callum Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Blood and Tissue Bank, 2075 Bayview Ave., Room B2 04, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, Canada. Health Canada’s definition of ‘‘banked’’, with respect to cells and tissues, are processed cells and tissues that have been determined safe for transplantation, and are stored by the source establishment in its inventory and are available for distribution or transplantation (Government of Canada 2013).
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