Enhancement of tissue expansion by anticontractile agents.

To evaluate the effect of anticontractile agents on the rate of tissue expansion, guinea pig back skin was expanded while being treated with various anticontractile agents. Expansion was carried out using standard percutaneous inflatable skin expanders modified by the addition of a catheter to deliver the anticontractile agents papaverine or cytochalasin D. Expansion proceeded for 25 days with one or other of the substances being infused through the catheter; saline was used in a separate control group. Measurements of the rate and extent of expansion showed that there was a statistically significant increase in these parameters for the experimental groups as compared with saline controls. Histologic examination of the expanded tissue suggests that the cellular basis for this phenomenon may involve the relaxation or inactivation of contractile fibroblasts in the fibrous capsule surrounding the expander.