title: A skin fixation method for decreasing the influence of wound contraction on wound healing in a rat model.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The elasticity of the back skin of the rat reduced the tension around wounds during the wound healing process in that region, and thus activates wound contraction. The authors proposed two skin fixation methods using readily available materials to decrease the influence of wound contraction on wound healing and designed an experiment to determine their effects.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors made 36 skin wounds on the backs of 18 rats, and they divided them into three groups. Each group was treated with three different kinds of dressing materials, each with different skin fixing characteristics. Group A was a control group. Group B and group C were dressed by the first and the second skin fixation method. We measured the areas of the wounds post-surgically and calculated the wound area reduction rates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The two skin fixation methods both reduced the effect of wound contraction compared to the control group. Each of the two methods had different outcomes in reducing wound contraction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The experiment demonstrated significant differences among the wound areas and the wound area reduction rates of the three groups as a result of differences in the degree of wound contraction. To obtain accurate results from wound healing experiments, appropriate skin fixation methods must be adopted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Seong Hwan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: Yong Chan
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: Su Bong
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Soo Jong
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Choi
keywords: Rats; Wound healing; Wounds and injuries