Can subphysiological cold application be utilized in excessive dermal scarring prophylaxis and treatment?: A promising hypothetical perspective

Abstract

Excessive dermal scarring (EDS) is a wound healing complication, characterized by protruded erythematous and inelastic 'proliferative scar tissue' which is associated with increased and prolonged inflammation process within the wound microenvironment. As inflammation plays a key role in this process, methods to contain or attenuate excessive inflammation hold promise in treatment and prophylaxis of EDS conditions. While cold exposure is notorious as the causative agent a wide array of morbidities and fatalities, its tempered use is exploited in medicine for ablative and therapeutic applications. "Subphysiological cold" has been administered for its antiinflammatory effects which act via decreasing vascular permeability and downregulating proliferation of cells in the wound environment; this knowledge supports our hypothesis that "subphysiological cold application" can also be utilized in human EDS prophylaxis and treatment. In this study, we are reviewing the mechanisms of its both deleterious and therapeutic actions and suggesting another possible application for prevention and/or treatment of human EDS conditions. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.