Institution: | a Plastic Surgery and Burn Unit, Traumatologic Centre, Torino, Italy b Fondazione Piemontese Studi e Ricerche sulle Ustioni, Torino, Italy c Department of Maxillo-facial Surgery, University of Torino, Italy d Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, University of Torino, Italy |
Abstract: | Fifteen patients who underwent a split thickness skin graft operation for full thickness burns and six patients with postburn scars were biopsied after a standard aesthesiological examination completed with Weber and Dellon tests. A semiquantitative evaluation was performed on immunohistochemically stained sections to determine the presence or absence of PGP 9.5 immunoreactive intraepithelial fibres, complex sensory receptors, nerve fibres in the dermal papillae, vessel-innervating fibres, gland-innervating fibres, and nerve trunks in the deep dermis. The reinnervation pattern was similar in grafts and scars. With regard to sensory receptors, free nerve endings and Merkel-neurite complexes were observed. Statistical analysis suggested a significant correlation between sensibility and the amount of regenerated nerve structures (particularly in the epidermis and dermal papillae). |