Cutaneous wound healing in aging small mammals: a systematic review.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Systematic review of animal studies without human clinical data.
PubMed 25817246 · doi:10.1111/wrr.12290
What was done
A systematic review was conducted using MEDLINE/PubMed to evaluate the impact of aging on cutaneous wound healing in small animal models (mice, rats, and New Zealand White rabbits). Inclusion was restricted to studies using full-thickness wounds that compared young and aged cohorts on wound closure, reepithelialization, granulation tissue fill, and tensile strength.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical values or meta-analytic statistics. Across mice and rats, wound closure, reepithelialization, and granulation tissue fill were delayed or reduced with aging. Early wound tensile strength was lower in aged mice and rats; later tensile strength was greater in aged mice and showed no significant difference between young and old rats. In rabbits, reepithelialization and granulation tissue fill were also delayed or decreased with aging.
Why it matters
It consolidates small-animal evidence on how aging impairs cutaneous wound repair mechanisms while identifying significant reporting inconsistencies that impede clinical translation.
Limits
The abstract does not state the number of included studies or total animal sample size. Findings are restricted to non-human animal models and showed high variability in experimental design and reporting.
Cited by
- supports Wound healing in children is significantly faster and more efficient than in adults.