A comparative study of wound dressings on full-thickness wounds in micropigs

Eight full-thickness (to the depth of adipose tissue) skin wounds were surgically inscribed on the backs of four Yucatan micropigs (32 wound sites in total). Wound sites were created to allow for controlled comparative evaluation between wound sites, wound dressings, and specified postoperative healing time. The wounds were dressed with either ClearSite hydrogel dressing (New Dimensions in Medicine, Dayton, Ohio) or Duoderm hydrocolloid wound dressing (ConvaTec Inc., Princeton, New Jersey). Tracings and photographs of each wound site were made and computerized planimetry was done to compare the rate of epithelialization for like wounds and like wound dressings. Histomorphometric measurements were also made to compare the effects of the dressing on the wounds at the cellular level. The results of this study indicate that the wounds covered with the hydrogel dressing exhibited a more rapid rate of closure and reepithelialization as compared with the hydrocolloid wound dressing.