Frontiers in wound healing

Wound healing is the key discipline for the treatment of burns. A burn injury leads to the loss of the first defense against the outside world. No matter how great the immune system is, if there is no skin, people die of infection and the systemic response to inflammation. The goal then is to cover the wound in an expeditious manner. Scarring is the unwanted complication of a poorly performed attempt to cover the wound. Our real objective is to cover the wound rapidly but at the same time minimize the ultimate scar. An understanding of healing will allow the burn caregiver to optimize healing. The aim of this chapter is to highlight the basics of healing and focus on the key issues related to the treatment of burn wounds.