Do Functional Keratin Dressings Accelerate Epithelialization in Human Partial Thickness Wounds? A Randomized Controlled Trial on Skin Graft Donor Sites

Objective: To determine if the experimental (keratin-based) dressing accelerates ep-ithelialization rates during healing of partial-thickness wounds, relative to a Standard Care dressing. Method: A randomized control trial was conducted using a Standard Care dressing side by side with the experimental dressing on a sample (n = 26) of partial-thickness donor site wounds. The proximal/distal placement of the control and treatment was randomized. Percentage epithelialization after approximately 7 days was estimated from which time to fully epithelialize can be inferred. Patients were grouped into “young ” (≤50 y/o) and “old ” (>50 y/o). Results: For the “old ” patients (n = 15), the median epithelialization percentage at 7 days is 5 % and was significantly (P =.023) greater for the experimental dressing. For the “young ” patients (n = 11), the median epithelialization percentage at 7 days was 80 % and there is no significant difference between the experimental and Standard Care control dressings. Conclusions: The ex-perimental dressing significantly increases the rate of epithelialization of acute, traumatic partial-thickness wounds in older patients. We suggest that the dressing may be clinically useful in similar situations where epithelialization may be delayed because of patient o