The effect of graft-bed irradiation on the healing of rat skin grafts.

This study explores the possible side effects on healing skin grafts of irradiation, commonly used intraoperatively following surgical tumor removal. The experimental model involved the delivery of a single 10-Gy dose of electron radiation to the recipient bed of a skin wound, followed by attachment of a full thickness rat skin autograft. Skin graft repair was assessed by light microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and transmission electron microscopy over a 3-week period for grafted and grafted-irradiated groups. Graft-bed irradiation reduced fibrinogen, fibrin, and fibronectin deposition in the wound. It also produced brief changes in the extent of both re-epithelialization and granulation tissue formation, and reduced the diameter of collagen fibrils in the granulation tissue. Despite these changes, the results suggest that graft-bed irradiation only delays the healing process, producing no serious clinical complications at the time points studied.