Dehydrated Human Amnion/Chorion Membrane-It's For Healing!!

Purpose--To demonstrate the effectiveness of dehydrated human amnion/chorion membrane in facilitating wound closure with less scarring, pain and reoccurrence in a wide variety of wound types that are not following the normal course of healing.

Abstract—Introduction: Wound clinicians encounter a variety of chronic wounds. Patients with chronic wounds usually have comorbidities that  complicate  the healing cascade. The normal healing cascade includes three main phases-inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. Chronic wounds stall in the inflammatory phase. Dehydrated human amnion/chorion membrane (dHACM) products serve to regenerate damaged tissue by delivering human extracellular matrix components, essential growth factors, and specialized mediating cytokines to reduce inflammation, reduce scar tissue formation, reduce pain, and enhance tissue healing. Human amniotic membrane tissue that would otherwise be discarded by hospitals as medical waste is donated through a placenta donation program.  This program allows mothers, delivering healthy babies by planned Caesarean section, to donate their placentas and the processed tissues are safe, effective, and minimally manipulated allografts that are intended for homologous use. 

 Methodology—5 case studies will be presented including photos, patient histories and progression of healing with dHCAM applications. Included are the following  chronic wounds: arterial, venous, diabetic, surgical and pressure ulcer.

Conclusion--Human amniotic membrane allografts have been used for a variety of reconstructive surgical procedures since the early 1900s. The use of amniotic membrane as an allograft has accelerated due to the development of a patented process, which allows the tissue to be dehydrated and sterilized. The result is a durable graft with natural barrier properties that offers clinicians a clear advantage in soft tissue applications. The dHCACM allografts can be stored at ambient conditions for up to five years and come in a wide variety of sizes that make them extremely cost efficient.