Scarless Wound Healing: From Experimental Target to Clinical Reality

Abstract Decades after the discovery of fetal scarless wound healing, therapeutic targets for reducing adult skin fibrosis remain few. Compounding the issue, the number of iatrogenic injuries and patients with multiple comorbidities is mounting, therefore increasing the likelihood of dysfunctional or pathologic wound healing. Also, there is overall growth in clinical expenditures on wound healing. Chapter 5 will contrast the adult and fetal wound healing mechanisms and review current therapeutic and experimental targets focused on reducing adult skin fibrosis and recapitulating the fetal wound healing environment. Through highlighting the differences between fetal and adult healing, scar reduction can be accomplished in the severely afflicted, such as those with contractures, keloids, or burns.