Effect of topical mitomycin C on the healing of surgical and laser wounds: a hint on clinical application.

OBJECTIVES

Mitomycin C (MMC) is used in otolaryngological surgery to reduce complications from postoperative scarring. However, the effects of MMC on wound healing at different doses and on different wound types have not been fully described. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of topical MMC at 2 different doses on the healing of surgical and laser wounds.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING

This was a randomized study using 20 rabbits. Six full-thickness wounds were made by excision or laser vaporization on the flank skin. The wounds were randomly treated by topical MMC of 0.4 or 1.0 mg/mL or saline for 5 minutes.

RESULTS

Re-epithelialization and contraction of the original wounds were significantly delayed by the use of MMC (P < 0.01). The delayed healing effect of MMC was more prominent in the laser wounds than in the excision wounds. MMC inhibited collagen deposition and fibroblast proliferation of wounds on histological analysis. The 2 different concentrations of MMC showed no difference in gross or histological wound healing characteristics.

CONCLUSION

Our results showed that MMC delays the healing of wounds as a result of the inhibition of fibrosis, especially for laser wounds.