Rat skin wounds tensile strength measurements in the process of healing

Abstract

The goal of our investigation was to evaluate mechanical properties of the skin wounds during the first seven days of primary healing. We realized two parallel symmetrical skin incision (on the left and right side of the spine) in the general anaesthesia. Rats were divided into 7 groups. We measured tensile strength of the wound in 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144 and 168 hours after wounding in every group. After each day of measurement we obtained complex of tensile strength diagrams of wound tensile strength-time dependence. We observed the highest absolute strength increase after 24 hours within 5 days after wounding. In the period between 2nd and 5th day of testing we observed stagnation of the strength, labelled as “plató phase”. Next significant strength increase was observed only after 6 days, with following increase of the tensile strength of skin wound.