Sylke Inc. has introduced SYLKE, a hypoallergenic silk fibroin dressing aimed at improving healing for surgical wounds by minimizing complications and infections that can result in suboptimal scarring.
Data from the Aesthetic Surgery Journal (ASJ) Open Forum indicates that the SYLKE adhesive wound closure prototype, in collaboration with The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the University of California San Diego, outperformed alternatives (p<0.001) across all measures. This notably reduced the incidence of medical adhesive-related skin injuries, or MARSIs.
Each year, 1.5 million Americans suffer from MARSIs caused by synthetic surgical adhesive dressings, leading to painful complications, including surgical-site infections (SSIs) and poor scarring outcomes. The related cost to the U.S. healthcare system is $3.3 billion each year. The current standard of care, including tapes and liquid glue medical adhesives, often lead to skin tears, blisters, cell damage, and allergic contact dermatitis.
“SYLKE aims to revolutionize surgical wound care by eliminating medical adhesive-related skin injuries that lead to complications such as infections and poor scarring outcomes. We see a benefit to millions of patients and aim to decrease the financial burden on the healthcare system by bringing SYLKE to market,” says M. Mark Mofid, MD, FACS, an assistant professor of plastic surgery at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and inventor of SYLKE.
“Scarring from surgical procedures dramatically affects aesthetics and impacts patients’ mental health and overall well-being. We are especially pleased to extend the art of scar-minimizing wound closure to all healthcare professionals, patients, consumers, and military personnel,” Mofid adds.
Multispecialty studies using SYLKE are in the planning stages at Johns Hopkins this fall.
