Study of wound healing in rats treated with topical and injected mitomycin-C

Experimental study in animals. Introduction: Mitomycin C has been used as a fibroblasts inhibitor, thus reducing the scaring process in surgical wounds. AIM: This paper aims at assessing the use of Mitomycin C to reduce the scaring process through its topical use and later injected reinforcements. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used a model of a creating a wound in the dorsum of rats, removing a circular piece of skin and letting it heal by itself. We used 18 rats, divided in three groups. The first group - Control, the second with topical use, and a third group with injected mitomycin C reinforcement, monthly for 2 months. After 3 months the animals were slaughtered and the scars were surgically removed and sent for histology study. RESULTS: We noticed, under different criteria, that healing with topical mitomycin is less intense; however, when it was injected, the parameters were again comparable to those from the control group. DISCUSSION: We believe that injected mitomycin C in the scar, since it is highly toxic, it destroys tissue and brings about scar neoformation. CONCLUSIONS: Mitomycin C reduces the scaring process when used topically; however, it increases scar tissue formation when injected in these wounds.