Normal wound healing compared to healing within porous Dacron implants

This study examined the hypothesis that healing within porous implants differs from that in normal connective tissue. Special attention was given to extracellular components including collagen, reticular fibers, and ground substance, and to enzymes associated with activated macrophages. Using Dacron velour and the rabbit as host, the healing of normal connective tissue and that of the tissue/implant interface were histologically compared 10 and 28 days postimplantation. The results exhibited significant differences between connective tissue healing, implant capsule formation, and granulation tissue generation. The healing of connective tissue and implant capsule formation were essentially complete at 28 days. However, tissue inside the implant was qualitatively different and did not significantly change between 10 and 28 days. It was characterized by macrophages and giant cells, a predominantly acid mucopolysaccharide ground substance, and qualitatively fewer and less well defined collagen and reticular fibers were observed than in normal wound healing. Thus we conclude that the connective tissue inside Dacron velour does not resemble normal connective tissue after 10 or 28 days of healing. Furthermore, the collagen never fully matures into orderly bundles, a phenomenon which may be related to an altered mucopolysaccharide composition and a diminished reticular network. The lysosomal enzymatic activity of the macrophages and perhaps the giant cells at the tissue/implant interface may be linked to these differences.