Live Skin Allograft for Coverage of Deep and Extensive Burns: First Experience in Morocco

Abstract

The gold standard for closure of excised full-thickness burns is split-thickness skin autograft. Patients with very large burns have limited donor sites for harvesting of autograft and may benefit from the use of skin Allografts. Taken from cadaveric or human skin as part of tissue donation. Allograft skin has been widely used for wound management in burn centers. Functional as biologic dressing, it can not only provide ideal temporary wound coverage in extensive burns when autograft is not immediately available but also prepare the wound bed for definitive autografting. In this study, we present the results of the use of allograft from living donors in three children, the use of this live skin allograft has permitted to keep the children’s alive in a balanced physiologic state until autologous skin graft or spontaneous healing closed all wounds. The procedure of live skin allograft is simple and replicable, and can be applied in settings where no skin bank is available in the management of deep burns.