ABSTRACT
Cutaneous injury resulting in breach of the skin barrier stimulates a cascade of events that ultimately can restore normal structure and function to the site of damage. While a wound is open, it is susceptible to contamination and potentially colonization by both exogenous and endogenous microorganisms. The human body provides an ideal incubated medium for the growth of microbes and, therefore, has evolved a highly orchestrated process with which to restore tissue integrity.1 The overlapping responses that occur after damage has occurred encompass both innate and adaptive immunity to identify and eliminate microorganisms and other debris, together with migrational and proliferative cellular cues that culminate in the repair of the wounded tissue.
