Nature 177, 791 - 792 (28 April 1956); doi:10.1038/177791b0

Incomplete Wound Contracture and the Phenomenon of Hair Neogenesis in Rabbits' Skin

R. E. BILLINGHAM & P. S. RUSSELL

Department of Zoology, University College, London. Dec. 17.

IN rabbits, the healing of extensive wounds produced by excision of the full thickness of the skin of the trunk is the outcome of two distinct, though to some extent overlapping, processes which provide in turn a temporary and a definitive repair¹. During the course of the first week or two, the defect becomes filled with granulation tissue, which is progressively epithelialized by the migratory ingrowth of epithelium from the wound margins. Closure of the raw tissue surface in this manner marks the completion of temporary repair. The definitive repair is brought about by contracture, a forced inward movement of the wound margins as a consequence of tensile forces generated within the substance of the granulation tissue or its derivatives². Contracture, so it has been shown, is accompanied by a compensatory expansion of the integument surrounding the wound through intercalary or intussusceptive growth¹.

1. Billingham, R. E. , and Medawar, P. B. , J. Anat., Lond., 89, 114 (1955). | PubMed | ISI | ChemPort |
2. Abercrombie, M. , Flint, M. H. , and James, D. W. , J. Embryol. Exp. Morph., 2, 264 (1954). | ISI |
3. Billingham, R. E. , and Russell, P. , Ann. Surg. (in the press).
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