Is the Porcine Urinary Bladder Matrix an Effective Option in Extensive Skin Defect?

Purpose

Extensive skin defects (ESD) with exposed bone, cartilage, or tendon are challenging to manage. We hypothesize that using the Urinary Bladder Membrane (UBM) would result in better coverage of exposed tendon and bone compared to the standard skin grafting techniques.

Methods

This was a retrospective study of patients who had ESD treatment with UBM from 2017 to 2020 at different institutions. Descriptive variables were collected. Descriptive statistics were analyzed.

Results

Thirteen patients (mean age of 55.8 years) met inclusion criteria. Ten skin defects were full-thickness (76.9%), and three were partial-thickness (23.1%). All defects were reconstructed with MatriStem UBM following the manufacturer's recommendations. 84% of patients had complete ESD complete resolution, and 23.1% had a partial resolution. None of the patients required skin grafting procedure. The mean duration for complete healing was 3.5 weeks (range, 2 to 9 weeks), with a longer healing duration associated with the wound's depth, uncontrolled diabetes, and peripheral vascular diseases.

Conclusion

The use of the UBM for tissue regeneration shows promising results in the resolution of full-thickness and partial-thickness skin defects. Further controlled prospective clinical trials are recommended to compare the UBM to the other available techniques.