A hypothesis of the healing of deep dermal burns and the significance for treatment

Abstract

Abstract Deep dermal burns heal by a combination of new connective tissue formation (granulation) and epithelialization. In deep dermal wounds, which are unhealed after 14 days of conservative treatment, epithelialization can be enhanced by abrasion either alone or combined with provision of a skin graft. Some 42 burn wounds in 25 patients treated by this method have healed quickly and with good results. This method represents a move away from the current trend of early tangential excision and grafting of burn wounds and raises the possibility of developing a regime with the advantages but not the disadvantages of early tangential excision and grafting.