The objective of this study was to demonstrate that stem cells isolated from discarded skin obtained after debridement can be used with collagen and fibrin-based scaffolds to develop a tissue-engineered vascularized dermal equivalent. Discarded tissue samples were collected from severely burned patients undergoing wound debridement. Stem cells were isolated from the adipose tissue layer and the...

BACKGROUND A chronic wound is a wound that is arrested in the inflammatory phase of wound healing and cannot progress further. Over 90% of chronic wounds contain bacteria and fungi living within a biofilm construct. THE PROBLEM Each aggregation of microbes creates a distinct biofilm with differing characteristics so that a clinical approach has to be tailored to the specifics of a given biofi...

Pressure ulcers with undermined edges are generally hard to treat and may require surgical debridement and flap coverage. A woman with a 5-month history of a non-healing, undermined, sacro-coccygeal pressure ulcer presented for care at the author's wound care center. Because traditional wound care had failed and surgical debridement and repair was contraindicated due to her overall poor general...

Eschar formation is a potential sequela of burn injuries. Definitive management may include escharectomy and eschar debridement. After eschar removal, the wound can be covered with a skin graft or reepithelialization. For prolonged refractory eschar on the fingertips, topical use of rb-bFGF after debridement can achieve an optimal outcome.

Persistent wound drainage after total joint arthroplasty can potentiate periprosthetic joint infection. Although current recommendations are to treat persistent wound drainage with surgical debridement, we believe nonoperative treatment may be successful in selected patients. We performed a retrospective analysis of 25 persistently draining hip and knee arthroplasty wounds treated with a protoc...

BACKGROUND Recently, a new device, the Versajet, involving "Hydrosurgery Technology" which combines lavage and sharp debridement instrumentation has been described for soft tissue debridement. METHODS The Versajet Hydrosurgery System utilizes a reusable power console with foot pedal activation, disposable handpiece and tubing assembly in conjunction with sterile saline and standard waste rece...