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No differences in complications rates between ready-to-use, freeze-dried acellular dermal matrices

A systematic literature review of studies comparing ready-to-use and freeze-dried acellular dermal matrices found no difference in complication rates of cellulitis, seroma and explantation, according to research in PRS Global Open.

The acellular dermal matrices (AlloDerm, LifeCell Corporation) are currently available in two forms: a sterile ready-to-use (RTU) form that requires 2-3 minutes of rehydration and an aseptic “freeze-dried” (FD) form that requires 30 minutes of rehydration before the reconstruction procedure.

Researchers used the PubMed database to identify studies comparing the two types of acelluar dermal matrices for breast reconstruction.

Between RTU and FD groups age and BMI were similar.

There were no differences in complication rates between the two groups found for incidence of seroma, cellulitis and explantation.

Sensitivity analyses to include variables like follow-up time did not alter results of the study.

The researchers concluded that RTU and FD acellular dermal matrices have similar outcomes when used for prosthetic breast reconstruction. RTU is more widely used, the researchers noted, but there was no difference in complications. – by Abigail Sutton

Disclosure: Macarios is an employee of LifeCell, an Acelity company. Please see the full study for a full list of all remaining authors’ relevant financial information.