Foreign-body response wound-healing

Kyriakides TR and Bornstein P (2003) Matricellular proteins as modulators of wound healing and the foreign body response. Thrombosis and Haemostasis 90 986-992. 

J.M. Anderson, Inflammation, wound healing, and the foreign body response, in B.D. Ratner, A.S. Hoffman, F.J. Schoen, J.E. Lemons (Eds.), Biomaterial Science An Introduction to Materials in Medicine, third ed.. Academic Press, Elsevier, Waltham, MA, USA, 2013. 

Inflammation, Wound Healing, and the Foreign Body Response 369... 

Inflammation, wound healing, foreign body response, and repair of implant sites are usually considered components of the general soft tissue response to biomaterials or medical devices. The extent or degree and temporal variations in these responses are dictated by the inherent biocompatibility characteristics of the biomaterial or medical device. Factors which may play a role in the soft tissue response include the size. 

FIGURE 36.1 Inflammation, wound healing and foreign body responses at the implant site. The biomaterial pathway occurs at the surface of the biomaterial, whereas the exudate/tissue pathway occurs in the space surrounding the biomaterial. Both pathways can occur in a simultaneous manner and time frame. 

Whenever there is damage to the skin or mucous membranes and bacteria can enter, there is the risk of infection [40], The occurrence of infection will prevent the resolution of inflammation, and a chronic inflammatory response will arise. If there is a chronic inflammatory response, the wound healing response wiU not be completed. The combination of the injury and the presence of the foreign material will initiate the inflammatory response. It is well known that the presence of a foreign body greatly increases the infection risk and markedly decreases the number of bacteria required to cause an infection from 10 to 10. Not only is there an increased risk of infection but also the infection wiU be difficult to cure, most often only through the removal of the device [3]. The consequences of this depend on the need for the device. Removal of sutures may cause little impairment to healing, whereas removal of the total artificial heart would result in death [15]. 

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