Radiation-sterilized split skin: a new type of biological wound dressing. A preliminary report.

Abstract

Thin split skin grafts from human cadavers have been killed and sterilized by irradiation (4 ± 1 Mrad). This issue has successfully been used as a biological dressing on donor areas, second and third degree burns. It reduces the evaporation from the wound surfaces by 85%. Electron microscopic investigation shows that the horny layer of the dead tissue is well preserved in spite of the heavy irradiation, which explains the beneficial properties of this biological dressing.