Daily observations during healing of a full-thickness human surgical wound by second intention.
After his preauricular basal cell carcinoma had been excised by Mohs micrographic surgery, a patient took daily photographs of his 6 x 3-cm full-thickness wound as it healed by second intention over the next 44 days. Wound contraction produced a linear decrease in wound area between postoperative days 3 and 40 that accounted for 57% of the area of the original wound. The remainder of the wound was resurfaced by new epithelium, beginning on day 16. Few comparable reports address the contributions of contraction and re-epithelialization in large full-thickness human wounds.
Howe
N R
NR
Department of Dermatology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston.
Lang
P G
PG
D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000601:surgery; D062109:Dermatologic Surgical Procedures; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015580:Mohs Surgery; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D014945:Wound Healing