Background and objective.

Treatment of wounds, and burns in particular, is complex, they are high-cost injuries, imply long periods of hospitalization, additionally physical and work disabilities and emotional disturbances. There are different treatments available for its management, recently including tilapia skin xenografts. Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is a fresh water fish, native to Africa and commonly found and farmed in different tropical and subtropical countries. The skin It is a tissue rich in type I and III collagen fibers and has resistance to moisture and skin alterations similar to human skin. Used as a xenograft, it possess anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties that support and enhance healing.

In this study, we evaluate the efficacy of tilapia skin grafts in comparison with alternative techniques for the treatment of burns.

Methods.

A systematic bibliographic search was carried out using the PubMed and ScienceDirect data bases, MeSH terms were used with the search equation (tilapia skin) AND (burns), including case-control studies, case reports, and randomized controlled trials.

Results.

Five papers were included for the final study; 4 were from Brazil (the country that currently has the most experience in the use of tilapia skin in tissue regeneration) and 1 from Indonesia, all of them were written in English.

Conclusions.

There is currently no standard technique for treating wounds, however, fish skin grafts demonstrated faster and improved wound healing, fewer dressing changes, less pain, and lower costs, compared with conventional techniques.

Level of evidence 5c Terapeutic

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