Recurrent Wounds Scar integrity

[wantingknowledge]

Hello all,

Thank you in advance for your help. I am actually a P.T. that works with nurses re: wound care. I understand that scars acheive only 80% integrity of original skin, but my colleages and I are debating if this is a consistent value, or if the value decreases each time a wound opens and then "heals" (i.e. recurrent pressure wounds). One nurse had a chart that indicated 80% the first time a wound occured, then 64%, then 51% etc. But we are not sure if this was factual or someone just taking the statement 'that the new tissue is only 80% as strong as the original' literally and then did the math. I can not find a reliable reference that speaks to this topic. I am wondering if anyone knows about this.

[lovingtheunloved, ASN, RN]

I don't have anything concrete to point to, but I was also taught the whole 80% thing. And based on experience, I do find that scar tissue opens much easier.

[mommy.19, MSN, RN, APRN]

The granulation tissue that fills the defect of a full tickness wound is, as you've said, by definition, approximately 80% the tensile strength as the tissue that it replaced. I guess this could vary based on nutritional status, and ability to generate healthy granulation and epithelial tissue, but full thickness wounds always heal with granulation. I do not see why this would continue to regress based on the above mentioned percentages.