6 Conclusions

6 Conclusions

6.1 The Committee concluded that the ReCell Spray‑On Skin system ('ReCell') is a promising technology with potential to improve healing in acute burns, especially for patients with burns that need skin grafting. However, the Committee judged that there was insufficient evidence about the most appropriate patient population and therefore, the clinical and cost benefits of using ReCell to support the case for routine adoption at the present time.

6.2 The Committee decided that further research into clinical outcomes of using ReCell for treating burns would be beneficial. It considered that further research could determine the benefits of treatment with ReCell in patients with larger full thickness or deep partial thickness burns, or mid‑dermal partial thickness or indeterminate depth burns. The Committee considered that evidence about the relative benefits and costs of ReCell compared with cultured cells in treating large burns in combination with meshed skin grafts would be useful in making decisions about the use of ReCell for these patients.

6.3 The Committee concluded that research could reasonably involve the use of data from existing sources such as the International Burn Injury Database, as a supplement to other methods. The Committee considered that time to 95% healing, length of hospital stay, cosmetic appearance of scars and a measure of function of the burned area would be important outcomes in any research or data analysis.

Sir Andrew Dillon
Chief Executive
November 2014

  • National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)