Cutaneous tissue engineering and lower extremity wounds (part 1)

Tissue-engineered skin is a novel therapeutic with which difficult-to-heal lower extremity wounds may be treated. Such skins are products of cutaneous tissue engineering that provide an alternative for autologous or allogeneic tissue transplantation, thereby avoiding problems associated with donor site availability, the risk of infection, and scarring. Recently developed tissue-engineered skin equivalents have shown to be superior in certain ways to compression therapy for refractory venous ulcers and acute wounds. These biologic products behave similarly to autografts.