Use of lyophilized porcine skin to the oral wound. Clinical application and experimental evaluation as a temporary dressing material.

In order to cover the defect of the oral mucosa temporarily, we used lyophilized porcine skin (LPS) in 10 cases. The use of LPS seemed to be effective from the following points of view; alleviation of postoperative pain and as a protection against exogenous irritants. A fixation method, that is, a continuous locked suture, was devised technically to prevent the LPS from tearing by suturing. With this simple method, the patient maintained good oral hygiene and had only a slight discomfort. Histological examination using Japanese white rabbits showed no apparent difference in wound healing between this method and interrupted suture with tie-over compression. Re-epithelialization of the wound in the non-dressed (control) group was recognized earlier than that in the LPS-covered group.