Various reconstructive procedure have been applied for the skin and soft tissue defect. Acellular human dermal allograft(AlloDerm )is very suitable biological material especially in the reconstruction of th full thickness skin defects. AlloDerm is a layer of dermis produced from human cadaver skin produced from tissue bank, in which all fo the cell elements removed, leaving only the collagen matrix from which the skin is originally built. It promotes the growth of the fibroblast, melanocyte, keratinocyte, etc. The most immunogenic components are removed, the remaining noncellular dermal tissue is immunollogically inert. A thin layer of epidermis, taken from a patient dornor site, is then laid overtop the AlloDerm, and the layers grow together within approximately 14 days. Thinner dornor sites promote faster healing, lesser hyperpigmentation or hypopigmentation, and reduce subsequent hypertrophic scarring of the dornor site. From October 1997 to August 1998, we have grafted acellular allogenic dermis on skin and underlying soft tissue defects after the trauma in 7 cases, pressure sore in 2 cases, depressed nasal tip in 1 case, cleft lip nose deformities in 2 cases, release of burn scar contracture in 2 cases, augmentation for glabella and nasolabial fold in 2 cases. Patient follow-up period ranged from 2 weeks to 36 weeks. We concluded that cryopreserved accellular human dermis will engraft successfully
and support engraftment of verlying thin autograft. Initial results relating to the effectiveness of cryopreserved acellular human dermis in optimizing appearance and function are encouraging, but longer follow-up is required before definitive conclusions can be made.