Conducted Healing to Treat Large Skin Wounds
M.I. Salgado, A. Petroianu, L.R. Alberti, G.L. Burgarelli, A.J.A. BarbosaOriginal article, no. 5, 2013
Background: Improvement of the healing process to providebetter aesthetical and functional results continues to be asurgical challenge. This study compared the treatment ofskin wounds by means of conducted healing (an originalmethod of treatment by secondary healing) and by the useof autogenous skin grafts.Method: Two skin segments, one on each side of the dorsum,were removed from 17 rabbits. The side that served as a graftdonor site was left open as to undergo conducted healing (A)and was submitted only to debridement and local care withdressings. The skin removed from the side mentioned abovewas implanted as a graft (B) to cover the wound on the otherside. Thus, each animal received the two types of treatment onits dorsum (A and B). The rabbits were divided into two groupsaccording to the size of the wounds: Group 1 - A and B (4 cm2)and Group 2 - A and B (25 cm2). The healing time was 19 daysfor Group 1 and 35 days for Group 2. The final macro- andmicroscopic aspects of the healing process were analysed comparativelyamong all subgroups. The presence of inflammatorycells, epidermal cysts and of giant cells was evaluated.Results: No macro- or microscopic differences were observedwhile comparing the wounds that underwent conducted healing and those in which grafting was employed, althoughthe wounds submitted to conducted healing healed morerapidly.Conclusions: Conducted wound healing was effective for thetreatment of skin wounds.
