Clinical application of skin substitutes

There has been a perpetual demand for skin and its replacements, which has fuelled advances in the development of novel skin substitutes. The field of skin bioengineering has made mammoth progress in the last 30 years, helped by the advances in the biotechnology and understanding of wound-healing mechanisms. The options for skin substitutes currently range from the cadaveric skin of the past to a number of epidermal, dermal and composite constructs. This review focuses on the clinical applications of various skin substitutes currently available, looking into their advantages and disadvantages and the scope for future improvements