Comparison of contraction among three dermal substitutes: Morphological differences in scaffolds

Various kinds of synthetic dermal substitutes are produced and used in clinical application and contribute to wound bed preparation for subsequent skin grafting. Although their appearance and outcomes are different, the criteria for the selection of proper synthetic dermal substitutes is not well defined yet. In this study, we focused on the contraction of dermal substitutes and compared the morphological differences in scaffolds. A marked contraction was observed with Pelnac^® compared to Integra^® and Terudermis^® in vitro. We also showed that the pore size of Pelnac^® was smaller than that of Integra^® and Terudermis^®. The shape of the pore was oval in Pelnac^®, whereas those in Integra^® and Terudermis^® were more circular. Differences in the morphological structure may have affected the contraction of the synthetic dermal substitutes.