Tag Archive for: skin graft

Veterinary Neurology Vetrix

When a patient has a wound that’s too big to close on its own or a wound that becomes chronic and doesn’t heal by itself, treatment with a skin graft may be beneficial in obtaining wound closure. Skin grafts help quickly and effectively restore function and provide better cosmetic results than other treatment options. Additionally, skin grafts protect from infections and parasites. The Vetrix BioSIS Technology we provide is a regenerative medicine beneficial in remodeling, regrowing, and repairing wounds encountered in the veterinary field.

Two Common Skin Graft Procedures in Veterinary Medicine

When it comes to common household pets, veterinarians are often most likely to perform one of the following types of skin grafts when necessary for wound treatment:

  • Total Skin Graft (or Full-thickness skin graft): This skin graft includes the epidermis and dermis. It involves removing a piece of skin and the fat from the underside of the skin. This grafting procedure requires the donor site to have enough surrounding loose skin so the incision can be closed.
  • Partial Thickness Skin Graft (or Split-thickness skin graft): This skin graft involves shaving a thin layer of skin, 0.2 to 0.4mm, off the donor site. The cutting plane of this graft remains above the hair follicles so that no hair will grow from this skin graft. The donor site will heal independently and doesn’t require closure, but it may be more painful than a total skin graft because the exposed nerve endings will need time to heal. It’s typically used in burn victims with limited normal skin for grafting.

Veterinarians will guide their patients on the best skin graft option for their particular wound.

Treating Skin Grafts With Regenerative Veterinary Medicine

Once it’s been determined that a pet needs a skin graft to heal a wound, consider a regenerative medicine solution as part of your treatment. Unlike synthetic materials or other biological grafts, Vetrix Technology provides a structure for healthy tissue to grow across and incorporate into the extracellular matrix, resulting in wholly remodeled, vital, and fully vascularized tissues. During the healing process, Vetrix BioSIS is replaced with the body’s native tissue, developing into a permanent repair without the long-term presence of a foreign body. After healing is complete, patients are left with healthy, natural tissue.

BioSIS is a great regenerative medicine solution for skin grafts because it facilitates angiogenesis and rapid remodeling, allowing the body’s defense mechanisms to react and respond to any potential infection. It promotes safe and sterile healing of the wound.

Download the BioSIS Informational Brochure to learn more about this technology and how it can aid in healing skin graft patients.

Get the brochure.

eye drops for petsVeterinary regenerative medicine started in the mid-1990s when bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were used to treat tendon injuries in horses. Over the last 30 years, veterinarians have made significant advances in developing medications for animals using regenerative medicine to treat a variety of diseases. But before we get into what you can treat with veterinary regenerative medicine, we want to ensure that all readers understand what veterinary regenerative medicine is.

According to the FDA, “Veterinary regenerative medicine is an active area of research for developing new cell and tissue therapies for animals. Such therapies are called animal cells, tissues, and cell-and-tissue based products, or ACTPs for short.”

ACTPs refer to products used in animals that contain, consist of, or derive from cells or tissues. Some terms you may hear associated with this include:

  • Stem Cells (SCT)
  • Differentiated cells
  • Tissues such as blood
  • Platelet-rich plasma (PRP)
  • Amnion

Regenerative veterinary therapies elicit a therapeutic response that stimulates healing in tissues. They are used to home in on sites and rejuvenate damaged tissue. Regenerative therapies are also helpful in combating pain in dogs with orthopedic injuries.

What Can You Treat With Veterinary Regenerative Medicine?

Regenerative medicine is recommended as a primary treatment for specific conditions or used jointly with surgical procedures. At Vetrix, we provide products that harness the natural capabilities of the patient’s existing cells by providing a biological scaffold into which progenitor cells embed. Once the patient’s cells have migrated into the native scaffolding, the cells lay down their extracellular matrix which, in turn, shares signals to differentiate into the appropriate tissue. With this site-specific healing capability, Vetrix® can fully regenerate tissue ranging from:

  • Skin
  • Muscular defects
  • Intestinal lining
  • And others

Our regenerative veterinary solutions are also helpful for the following:

  • Ophthalmology
  • Neurology
  • Surgical Applications
  • Oncology
  • Wound management

One of our most popular products is BioSIS ECM Technology. BioSIS provides a natural scaffold that works with and encourages your patient’s (pet’s) natural healing process. A few typical surgical applications you can use BioSIS for include:

  • Gastrointestinal soft tissue repair
  • Thoracic wall repair
  • Body wall and hernia repair
  • Degloving injuries
  • Mass removals
  • Alternative to skin grafts

Learn more about Vetrix BioSIS Technology.

 

Additionally, Vetrix also provides veterinarians with another regenerative medicine to treat wounds. Healion Amniotic Wound Matrix is a regenerative option that utilizes the natural healing properties of amnion to treat patients with severe wounds. Click here to learn more.

 

Vetrix® is the leading provider of veterinary regenerative medicine. As a world supplier of innovative veterinary products, we enable veterinarians to provide exceptional treatment for their patients.

We’re always happy to answer questions about our products, what we do, and how we do it. Contact us today if you’re a veterinarian interested in using regenerative medicine in your patient treatment plans. Contact Vetrix.

August 2018

This months’ case comes to us from Dr. Mike Herrington DVM. He leverages Healion, Vetrix’s amnion wound particulate to close a mass removal.

Dr. Herrington practices at Englewood Animal Health Center in Englewood, FL. Read below to learn why he used Healion and his results utilizing this technology.

Case background: “Gracie is a 6yr old F/S Boxer mix who presented for removal of about a 1.5cm dermal mass on the dorsal mid shaft R forelimb. The mass removal was the easy part, but closure was difficult. The mass was directly over the cephalic vein, so I did not want to leave it open. I had to undermine completely around the circumference of the leg and make about 2 dozen mesh incisions, as well subQ anchors just to get the skin apposed. Even so it was tight, so I splinted it and applied a modified Robert Jones bandage. I performed daily wet-dry bandage changes, using Entederm (nystatin-neomycin-triamcinolone) ointment, mainly for the anti-inflammatory properties. The skin just didn’t stretch as much as I was hoping, and the cephalic vein was being compressed, so her foot became edematous and the skin around the incision is showing some focalized necrosis. On April 7th I made 2 releasing incisions under bupivicaine, taking great care to leave the cephalic vein covered. I was able to massage a good amount of the edema out. I replaced the splint & bandage, this time switching to silvadene cream. She is also on carprofen and cephalexin orally BID.” – Dr. Herrington

Initial Healion Application

Healion was initially applied on 4/11/18, 8 days after surgery, to the releasing incision sites. Gracie got her bandage off 3 days later and licked the Healion off the wound.

Reapplying Healion

Healion was reapplied per suggestion from Vetrix on 4/16/18. No further complications occurred.

4 Days Post Second Application

Healing proceeded well, a healthy granulation bed formed by 4/19/18. The splint was removed from the bandage on 4/20/18 (4 days post Healion application), with Gracie able to fully bear weight on the affected leg.

5/4/2018 (18 Days post Healion application)

Bandaging was maintained to protect the healing wound.

5/14/2018 (28 days post Healion application)

Epithelialization proceeded well, and was complete on 5/14/18. Carprofen and cephalexin therapy was maintained until 5/14/18.

Know someone who could benefit from these treatments? Send them our way and ask about our new customer referral program!

Do you have a case that you would like featured? Contact us and let us know!

follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend