The three functional skin banks in Brazil can meet only 1 percent of the national demand, said Dr. But Brazil lacks the human skin, pig skin, and artificial alternatives that are widely available in the US. Animal skin has long been used in the treatment of burns in developed countries. They are covered in fish skin - specifically strips of sterilized tilapia.ĭoctors here are testing the skin of the popular fish as a bandage for second- and third-degree burns. "Now, these few animals change the way we may treat burns in the future for other animals.FORTAZELA, Brazil - In this historic city by the sea in northeast Brazil, burn patients look as if they’ve emerged from the waves. "I think the wildlife definitely presents us with different challenges," Peyton says. She's hoping that this sort of treatment could change how burned animals are helped in the future. (Watch: " Brain Surgery Live With Mental Floss")īut it's a good innovation for wildlife, Peyton says. With this number of donations, outfitting humans with tilapia skin bandages is unlikely in the near future, experts say. About 1.5 million tissue transplants are performed annually to help burn victims, injured athletes, and military members recover. In the U.S., tens of thousands of donors provide tissue for transplant. In humans, the fish bandages cut down on healing time and the need for pain medications. Tilapia bandages, which can be changed a few times over several weeks, are left on until natural scarring takes over. Before use, bandages made in Brazil are sterilized with radiation and, once they've been packaged and refrigerated, can last up to two years. The fish skin is also resistant-it can withstand more tension than human skin and holds up against moisture. Like human skin, tilapia skin contains certain collagen proteins that are essential for scarring. Just into everything, causing trouble." Showing Skin "He acts like a kitten now," Peyton says. (Watch: " Rescued Bear With Amputated Paws Learns to Walk Again") At that time, about 90 percent of their wounds had healed. The bears, who were released with radio collars on January 17 after one final treatment, are doing well. (Watch: " Treating Animals With Acupuncture") These techniques are frequently used on other injured animals, but this was the first time Peyton had used fish skins as bandages for large animals. In addition to fish bandages, Peyton and the team used acupuncture, chiropractic treatment, and cold-laser therapy on the animals on days they had to be anesthetized for standard care. Watch: Rescued Bear With Amputated Paws Learns to Walk Again They're still functional, but they don't have the collagen needed to help repair the skin, so the vets have to switch them out. The wraps are good for about 10 days, but after that they turn leathery. "It's pretty straightforward," Peyton says. The amount of fish skin they had to use varied, but generally one bear paw takes about one or two skins. After anesthetizing the bears and cougar and prepping them for surgery, Peyton and her team of veterinarians cut pieces of tilapia skin to fit over the animals' charred flesh. Once they skinned the fish and ate the meat (as to not waste it), they sterilized the skin for several days, modeling the same cold sterilization protocol that's used for skin grafts on people. Peyton and her husband visited the local fish market to buy live tilapia. Due to restrictions, tilapia bandages can't be shipped outside the country, so the U.S. The vets knew that fish skin has been used in Brazil to treat human burn victims, so Peyton's Portuguese-speaking colleague called up a doctor there. (Related: " First Brain Surgery Performed on Bear") Vets can't wrap the injured paws in cloth bandages either, because if the animals chew on their bandages-which they inevitably do-the cloth can block their intestines. Putting pain pills in their food isn't terribly effective, because there's a chance they might not eat them. (" See How Vets Removed a Melon-Size Tongue From a Rescued Bear") But the animals can only go under so many times, and sedating them too frequently can risk their health. For normal operations, they have to be sedated for safety reasons. Injured or not, bears and cougars are dangerous animals.
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