Inhibition of wound contraction by point-to-point adherent splintage

The contractile force generated by the healing wound can be visualized as the sum of the forces of contraction developed across each of the minute segments of the scar. If splintage is effected in such a way that the splint itself adheres to the scar, each small segment of the splint needs to be rigid enough to resist only the minute contractile force generated by the corresponding small segment of the scar. This hypothesis was tested by means of an experiment using 30 adult white rats. Two full-thickness wounds were created on the backs of each animal and covered with split-thickness skin grafts. One of the grafted areas was splinted by an adherent acrylic membrane and the other was left unsplinted, acting as the control. At 8 weeks, the splinted grafts had retained 95 percent of the original size. The difference between the splinted and unsplinted grafts was statistically significant. Further evaluation of the principle of adherent nonrigid splintage could lead to its application in the clinical context.