The scar tissue on Little?s leg was stiff and inflexible, and repeated injury ruined her skin?s attempts to close itself. She sought treatment from the best institutions in the region, but no one could heal her leg.

Then Dr. Rohit Gulati, from Union Memorial Hospital?s Wound Center, used a relatively new “fabric” made from part of a pig?s intestine.

“One of the five layers of the intestine is called the submucosa,” he said. “They remove the cells and the matrix that?s left behind provides a scaffoldingof sorts. The normal cells of the person it?s been applied to climb up on the scaffolding.”

The job of healing Little was not easy, said Nurse Elizabeth Jesada. She had to come in every week for nearly six months to get a new dressing with the product, brand named Oasis. It was not until October, when they began adding a second dressing ? a combination of collagen and silver in a thin sponge called Prisma ? that Little?s healing began in earnest.

Last week, her skin finally closed.

“God is good,” Little said shortly after being discharged Thursday. “I just know he sent me there for a reason.”

She has a long road ahead, Jesada said. She has to wear compression socks to keep the leg from swelling and straining the skin covering her scar tissue. She can not injure her right shin again for at least a year and even then must be careful.

Oasis is approved for use in burns, nonhealing wounds, diabetic ulcers and pressure ulcers, Gulati said, however, the healing process is very laborious and requires patients to commit to an intense schedule of appointments. Then there?s the cost ? the heavily processed intestinal material is not cheap, he said.

Gulati said the Oasis graft could help a lot of people. “I don?t think many doctors use it to the extent that they can.”

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