Comparison of scar contracture with the use of microskin and Chinese-type intermingled skin grafts on rats.

Wounds that were measured precisely 4 x 5 cm in size were created over the dorsal surfaces of rats. The defects were grafted with the use of either the microskin or Chinese technique of intermingled auto/allograft with an expansion ratio of 10:1. The size of the grafted wound of each rat was recorded on the fifth graft day after grafting and then weekly for 11 weeks. The extent of scar contracture on each rat was calculated weekly as a percentage of the original size. The results showed that the scar contracture associated with the Chinese type of intermingled auto/allograft transplantation was less than that associated with the microskin technique. The healing process in both forms of grafting was uneventful.