Table 2.

The classification of skin substitutes according to their biological actions

Types of Skin Substitutes	Definition
Temporary	Materials that can be placed on a fresh wound (usually partial thickness) and left until healed
Semi-permanent	Materials that are left attached to the excised wound, and eventually added on with autologous skin grafts in a two-staged surgical procedure.
Permanent	Incorporating an epidermal analogue, dermal analogue, or both as a permanent skin replacement solution

Adapted from Horch et al.¹⁶