Wound repair and the potential use of growth factors

Failure of wounds to heal increases the physical and financial burden of hospitalization and increases the work load for health care professionals. Although careful attention to nutrition (including adequate replacement of vitamins and trace mineral elements), tissue perfusion and oxygenation, and wound dressing and sanitation promote more rapid and complete healing, some wounds respond only slowly or not at all to these conventional treatment modalities. A group of polypeptide growth factors, including epidermal growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, transforming growth factor beta, and basic fibroblast growth factor, have been found to promote or hasten healing in animal models. This technology is now moving into the clinical arena where its potential for human healing must be evaluated.