Efficacy of Cultured Allogenic Keratinocytes in Treatment of Deep Second-Degree Burn

Cultured allogenic keratinocytes, produced as Kaloderm® (Tego Science, Seoul, Korea), are an effective dressing material for burn wounds. Generally, deep second-degree contact, steam, and flame burns tend to progress to third-degree burns. This study reviews the efficacy of cultured allogenic keratinocytes in deep second-degree burn patients. This is a retrospective study of 64 patients treated between November 2013 and April 2019. A half of deep second-degree contact, steam, and flame burn patients were treated with cultured allogenic keratinocytes. The other half were treated with chlorhexidine gauze and antibiotic ointment. The primary outcome was time to wound closure. A secondary outcome was the number of Kaloderm sheets used. Groups were compared based on the type of burn and treatment. In the experimental group, the median times to reepithelization were 10.0 days for the contact burn group, 13.5 days for the flame burn group, and 11.0 days for the steam burn group. Progression to a third-degree burn occurred in only one patient in the experimental group and four patients in the control group. Patients treated with cultured allogenic keratinocytes required a mean time of 11.7 ± 2.4 days for complete closure, whereas the mean time to complete closure in the control group was 16.4 ± 5.3 days. Patients with deep second-degree burns from flame, steam, and contact treated with cultured allogenic keratinocytes reepithelialized faster than those treated with chlorhexidine dressings.