Evaluation of Acellular Intact Fish Skin Grafts for Treating Acute and Chronic Wounds.

Cohort studyInternational wound journal· May 2026

Evaluation of Acellular Intact Fish Skin Grafts for Treating Acute and Chronic Wounds.

Christopher Böddeker, Sarah Biermann, Theresa Maria Jansen … Norman-Philipp Hoff

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Burns & Wound ReconstructionCohort studyTreatmentQ1IF 3.9

Fish-skin grafts led to complete closure in nearly half of hard-to-heal wounds.

Evaluation of Acellular Intact Fish Skin Grafts for Treating Acute and Chronic Wounds.

Christopher Böddeker … Norman-Philipp Hoff

International wound journal · May 2026 · Q1 in Surgery

Background

Acute, chronic, and hard-to-heal wounds pose a growing challenge due to reduced patient quality-of-life, higher cost and increased hospital admissions.

Purpose

This retrospective study evaluated the surgical procedures and outcomes associated with fish-skin graft transplantation for difficult-to-treat wounds.

Results

45.45%

nearly half of these wounds fully closed

More results

Although there is no gold standard for wound care, there is a trend toward simple, outpatient-compatible treatment options.

Acellular dermal fish skin derived from Gadus morhua (Atlantic cod) is a promising alternative.

More results

Forty-four patients (33 male and 11 female; mean age: 72.4 years; mean wound area: 84.5 cm 2 ) were treated with acellular fish skin graft.

Most patients reported that the procedure was neither painful nor time-intensive; 95% stated that they would opt for treatment again.

“

Conclusion

Fish skin graft transplantation represents a safe, well-tolerated and effective option for managing chronic wounds as well as challenging postoperative wounds, such as those at anatomically challenging sites.

Evaluation of Acellular Intact Fish Skin Grafts for Treating Acute and Chronic Wounds.

Evaluation of Acellular Intact Fish Skin Grafts for Treating Acute and Chronic Wounds.

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