The enhancement of wound healing with human skin allograft.

Although clean incisional wounds can be closed easily, contaminated wounds, wounds with tissue loss that cannot be closed primarily, and chronic wounds are generally not closed and suffer the effects of being open. It follows that wound healing would be enhanced if these wounds could be closed. This article describes how skin allograft biologic dressings are used to close such wounds temporarily to bestow the benefits of wound closure. It also describes the benefits of human skin allografts and the history and basic science related to their use. Reference is made to newer wound covers that have the potential to provide similar benefits to open wounds.