Gelatin-Collagen Nonwoven Scaffold Provides an Alternative to Suprathel for Treatment of Superficial Skin Defects

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of a new biologic gelatin-collagen nonwoven scaffold compared with a more common synthetic wound dressing on the healing of superficial wounds. METHODS: Three superficial wounds with a depth of 0.5 mm and a length of 2.4 cm were created on the flanks of six minipigs using a skin dermatome. One wound on each pig was treated with the new nonwoven scaffold, one with the more common synthetic wound dressing, and one functioned as an untreated control wound. All three wounds were then covered with a semipermeable, sterile, transparent film. RESULTS: After 7 days, complete wound closure of all wounds could be detected; epidermal thickness and the number of epidermal cells of all treated wounds were significantly increased compared with the control wounds. The nonwoven dressing showed slightly better results compared with the more common dressing. CONCLUSIONS: The nonwoven scaffold is an interesting and competitive material for promoting epidermal wound healing. Because it is a biologic dressing, it degenerates completely and does not have to be removed from the wound. Further research should be conducted to compare this new dressing with other currently available wound treatments.