Wound closure: an analysis of the relative contributions of contraction and epithelialization.

The behavior of excisional wounds in rat and man has been analyzed. The rate of change in wound area due to contraction has been shown to be consistent with a constant linear rate of movement of the wound margins. The rate of change of area due to epithelialization has been shown to be consistent with a constant linear rate of growth of the epithelium. These rates together with the relevant delay times are shown to be the appropriate parameters for the comparison of the behaviors of excisional wounds. These parameters can be calculated from the change in wound area with time. An unexpected finding was that in both rat and man, the values obtained for the rates of contraction and epithelialization varied widely but the combined rates of these two processes varied little.