ABSTRACT
This chapter will review and discuss research studies from both human and swine models of epidermal wound healing. The research data gathered from animal and human models has heightened our understanding of the wound healing process. In 1963, Hinman and Maibach reported the use of a human model to evaluate the effect of occlusion on wound healing.1 They made partial thickness wounds on the inner arms of healthy adult male volunteers, with each volunteer serving as his own control. The inner arm was used because relatively few hair follicles exist in this area. Their theory was that by doing this, examination of the point of origin of epithelization would be simplified, as the epithelium spreads mainly from the periphery of the wound rather than the transected hair follicle. They left the control wound exposed to air and used a polyethylene film to occlude the experimental wound. Cutaneous punch biopsies (8 mm) were taken at 3-, 5-, 7-and 9-d intervals to histologically determine the rate of reepithelization. This study demonstrated that occlusion speeds reepithelization. While this model provides an effective way of evaluating wound healing, human studies are often impractical. Volunteers may be unwilling to undergo multiple biopsies, and ethical issues concerning the use of controls must be considered.
