Preoperative and postoperative topical tretinoin on high-tension excisional wounds and full-thickness skin grafts in a porcine model: A pilot study

BACKGROUND. Tretinoin induces neovascularization and the formation of collagen when applied topically. OBJECTIVE. The goal was to determine whether preoperative and postoperative treatment with tretinoin enhances the healing of high-tension, full-thickness excisional wounds and the survival of full- thickness skin grafts. METHODS. A blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study involved high-tension excisional wounds and full-thickness skin grafts treated perioperatively with tretinoin in a porcine model. RESULTS. Perioperative treatment of high-tension excisional surgery sites with tretinoin appeared to have no consistent beneficial or adverse effects on wound healing or scar spreading. In the full-thickness skin graft model, a trend toward impaired wound healing was noted. CONCLUSION. The collagen- inducing effects of topical tretinoin do not appear to enhance the healing of high-tension excisional surgery wounds in a porcine model. Tretinoin does got appear to improve the survival of full-thickness skin grafts and, in fact, a detrimental effect was apparent in our model.