Human amniotic membrane grafts in therapy of chronic non-healing wounds.

BACKGROUND

Human amniotic membrane (HAM) has been embraced as a natural wound dressing almost exclusively in ophthalmology. Only recently, emergence of commercial HAM products prompted its use in growing range of indications, especially treatment of chronic non-healing wounds.

SOURCES OF DATA

ClinicalTrials.gov database and International Clinical Trials Registry Platform searched with key words 'human amniotic membrane' and 'chronic wounds'.

AREAS OF AGREEMENT

HAM can be successfully used as a natural wound dressing to promote healing.

AREAS OF CONTROVERSY

It is still unclear, which preparation is more advantageous, cryopreserved HAM or dehydrated HAM.

GROWING POINTS

There are an increasing number of commercial HAM products and clinical trials for a variety of dermatological diagnoses.

AREAS TIMELY FOR DEVELOPING RESEARCH

In spite of easy procurement and low production costs, to our knowledge, there are currently only a few manufacturers of commercial HAM products tested in clinical trials for cutaneous wounds and all of them are located in the USA.