ABSTRACT
Epidermal wound healing is a well-orchestrated cascade of events that lead to repair when the underlying dermis is also compromised, but lead to regeneration when
only the epidermis is injured. This process, should it occur in a timely fashion, is termed acute wound healing, typically with restoration of skin integrity occurring within a period of days to weeks. Classically, acute wound healing is considered to occur in three overlapping phases termed the inflammatory, proliferative, and remodeling phases, respectively.1 Conversely, when this process is disrupted and healing is prolonged, delayed, or does not occur, the wound is termed a chronic wound.2 An exact time when acute wound healing becomes chronic does not exist; instead, the time depends upon patient-related variables such as age and comorbid conditions, and wound-related variables such as the location of the wound, its size, depth, and shape, and the method by which it was created.
