Modern Approaches to Burn Management: The Role of Skin Substitutes

Abstract

Skin substitutes are a diverse group of biological, synthetic, and bioengineered materials designed to temporarily or permanently replace skin tissue in burn management. They serve critical functions such as restoring the skin barrier, promoting wound healing, reducing infection risk, and facilitating reconstruction when autologous grafts are limited. Classifications based on composition include biological (allografts, xenografts), synthetic, and tissue-engineered scaffolds, while functional classifications include epidermal, dermal, and composite substitutes. Clinical applications range from accelerating healing in superficial burns to staged reconstructions in full-thickness injuries. Recent advancements focus on personalized, off-the-shelf matrices and tissue-engineered constructs. Despite ongoing progress, autologous skin grafting remains the gold standard, highlighting the need for continued innovation to develop skin substitutes that closely emulate native skin’s structure and functionality.