Fish skin speeds up healing in burns patients

From Superinnovators 30/10/23. This article is in TLDR (Too Long Didn’t Read) format which is popular in the innovation community and provides a bullet summary of information.

Introduction: Fish skin, particularly from the Tilapia species, is emerging as a revolutionary treatment for severe burns, offering a unique combination of properties that promote faster and more effective healing.

Research and results: Clinical trials by innovators from Federal University of Ceara, Brazil, since 2017 show that tilapia skin can speed up the healing process, reduce the need for pain medication, and is more cost-effective than traditional treatments. A study involving 115 burn victims in Brazil demonstrated faster healing, reduced pain, and significant cost savings.

Why fish skin? Tilapia skin possesses high levels of collagen type 1, Omega-3 fatty acids, a variety of amino acids, and special healing peptides. These components collectively promote wound healing, fight infections, reduce inflammation, and protect nerve endings.

Application: The tilapia skin is applied directly onto the burn, covered with a bandage, and can remain in place for about 10 days. As it dries out and the wound heals, the fish skin can be easily peeled away.

Origins and processing: Tilapia, abundant in Brazil’s rivers and fish farms, has its skin typically discarded as waste. For medical use, the skin is collected, cleaned, chemically treated, irradiated, and then tested for sterility.

Skin graft shortage: This innovation is not only addressing the shortage of skin grafts in certain countries but also has the potential to redefine burn wound treatment globally.

Beyond Brazil: Beyond Brazil, companies like Kerecis in Iceland have developed products from fish skin for burn victims. The Kerecis patented fish skin, derived from North-Atlantic Cod, is gently processed, retaining its similarity to human skin. It offers a structure similar to human skin, supports cell and vascular ingrowth, and has no known risk of viral disease transfer.

Tilapia fish skin applied onto the left arm (Top). The results after 17 days (Bottom).
All image credits: Lima-Junior EM, de Moraes Filho MO, Costa BA, et al./Federal University of Ceara/Journal of Surgical Case Reports

Superficial partial thickness burn in the right upper limb, after cleaning of the lesion.

Deep partial thickness burn (DPTB) in the left upper limb, after cleaning of the lesion.

Process of removing necrotic and fibrinous tissue from the lesion, an essential step to allow maximal contact between fish skin and the wound bed.

Appearance of the dressing on the sixth day of treatment. Good adherence of fish skin to the wound bed was detected.

Appearance of the right upper limb lesion after removal of fish skin, with a total of 12 days required for complete reepithelialization of the superficial partial thickness burns (SPTB).