From Chronic Wounds to Scarring: The Growing Health Care Burden of Under- and Over-Healing Wounds
Heather E. desJardins-Park, Geoffrey C. Gurtner, Derrick C. Wan, Michael T. Longaker
Abstract
Significance: Wound healing is the largest medical market without an existing small molecule/drug treatment. Both “under-healing” (chronic wounds) and “over-healing” (scarring) cause a substantial biomedical burden and lifelong consequences for patients. These problems cost tens of billions of dollars per year in the United States alone, a number expected to grow as the population ages and the prevalence of common comorbidities (e.g., diabetes) rises. However, no therapies currently exist to produce the “ideal” healing outcome: efficient wound repair through regeneration of normal tissue.
Topics & Concepts
Wound healingMedicineIntensive care medicineRegeneration (biology)Tissue repairWound careChronic woundPopulationFibrosisRegenerative medicineSurgeryStem cellPathologyBiologyEnvironmental healthCell biologyGeneticsBiomedical engineeringWound Healing and TreatmentsBurn Injury Management and OutcomesPressure Ulcer Prevention and Management