[Development of a resorbable temporary skin replacement for large surface burn wounds].

Most of the temporary dressing used in the treatment of extensive burn wounds pose immunological permeability, or transparency problems. All available dressings must be removed, and removal is often painful and traumatic. The development of biodegradable wound dressings made of copolymers of lactic and caproic acid was part of a research program (BMFT/FRG). Four parameters determine the properties of the copolymers: Purity, mole ratio of monomers, molecular weight, and sequence. Films of these copolymers can be made transparent, permeable, and flexible. They are degraded by hydrolysis and the normal ways of metabolism.