Healing Rates in a Multicenter Assessment of a Sterile, Room Temperature, Acellular Dermal Matrix Versus Conventional Care Wound Management and an Active Comparator in the Treatment of Full-Thickness Diabetic Foot Ulcers.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this 16-week, multicenter, randomized, controlled trial was to assess the healed ulcer rate of a human acellular dermal matrix, DermACELL, compared with conventional care and a second acellular dermal matrix, Graftjacket, in the treatment of full-thickness diabetic foot ulcers.

METHODS: One hundred sixty-eight patients were randomized into DermACELL, conventional care, and Graftjacket treatment arms in a 2:2:1 ratio. Patients in the acellular dermal matrix groups received either 1 or 2 applications of the graft at the discretion of the investigator. Weekly follow-up visits were conducted until the ulcer healed or the endpoint was reached.

RESULTS: At 16 weeks, the DermACELL arm had a significantly higher proportion of completely healed ulcers than the conventional care arm (67.9% vs 48.1%; P = .0385) and a nonsignificantly higher proportion than the Graftjacket arm (67.9% vs 47.8%; P = .1149). The DermACELL arm also exhibited a greater average percent reduction in wound area than the conventional care arm (91.4% vs 80.3%; P = .0791) and the Graftjacket arm (91.4% vs 73.5%; P = .0762). The proportion of severe adverse events and the proportion of overall early withdrawals were similar among the 3 groups based on relative population size (P ≥ .05).

CONCLUSIONS: The results presented here indicate that DermACELL is an appropriate clinical option in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers, with significant increases in healing rates and rate of percentage wound closure as compared with conventional care options.