ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a brief outline of what is known about concepts related to normal wound healing and addresses a few of the complications and failures associated with the repair processes. Tissue repair begins immediately after injury. The immediate hemostatic response involves microvasculature constriction coupled with coagulation. Extrinsic and intrinsic coagulation pathways combine with platelet accumulation to complete hemostasis and to provide the provisional matrix scaffolding for cellular migration. Angiogenesis is widely thought to be mandatory for normal wound repair. Granulation tissue provides clinical evidence that a wound is healthy and is ready for closure. Wound closure is defined as complete restoration of the epithelial layer. Epithelialization restores the protective barrier with fluid maintenance, temperature regulation, and prevention of microbial invasion. It probably represents a transition in the inflammatory state of the wound. Clinicians know that full-thickness wounds heal from the edges and that partial thickness wounds heal from the remnants of epidermal appendages in the wound bed.
