[Wound healing after surgery by laser, scalpel and thermocautery (author's transl)]

Laser-, thermocautery- and scalpelsurgery when compared in respect to their wound healing procedure have qualified as prepared for clinical application. On minipigs wound healing of skin scissions has been followed up morphologically in light microscopy and by testing the stress resistance of 16 days old scars. The fastest wound healing occurs after scalpel incision resulting in an almost perfect reconstruction of subepethelial tissue architecture at the 20th postoperative day. The initial tendency of laser incisions to dilate, which is still more pronounced in thermocautery wounds, causes a flat funnel shaped deformation of the scars, again more distinct after thermocautery. This is reflected in a still remaining slight disarrangement of the subepithelial collagenous fibres at the 20 postoperative day. Stress resistance is maximal in thermacautery scars, i. e. almost 30% higher than in scalpel and laser scars.