overlying the panniculus. On day 17 (figure 2b) following the initial injury, Bensal treated burns demonstrated a more organized
and less inflammatory dermis in the wound bed as compared to both control and SSD treated burns. Quantitative analysis of Masson’s trichrome staining on day 17 (Figure 2c ) showed a statistically significant increase in collagen deposition
in the Bensal HP-treated group compared to both untreated control and SSD-treated wounds (242.9 vs 232.2 vs 208.6, respectively), which correlates with the visible and parallel arranged
collagen bundles.
In excisional wounds, H&E staining on day 7 (Figure 3a) demonstrated
apparent scale crust, and a thin reepithelialized epidermis overlying a moderately infiltrated granulation tissue with engorged
vessels in the control group. This contrasted with findings in the petrolatum-treated group which exhibited a well formed epidermis with a compact, orthokeratotic stratum corneum, and a mild to moderate inflammatory infiltrate in the dermis with signs of parallel deposition of collagen bundles. Bensal HP-treated wounds exhibited a well formed epidermis, compacted stratum corneum, with a mixture of maturing dermis and inflammatory
granulation tissue. On day 11 (Figure 3b), control tissue revealed a mildly contracted wound with overlying crust and persistent
inflammatory infiltrate in the dermis. Petrolatum-treated wounds exhibited a contracted mildly inflammatory wound bed with a mature overlying epidermis and parallel arrangement of collagen bundles. Bensal HP treated tissue was notable for a completely contracted scar, visualized by the patchy homogenized
collagen seen in high power fields and incomplete muscle healing beneath the panniculus. Masson’s trichrome stain revealed
a significant difference in intensity of staining between Bensal HP-treated and control wounds on days 7 and 11 (Figures 3c and 3d, respectively), though no difference was seen between Bensal HP and petrolatum treatment on either day.
