Recent advances in the pathological basis and experimental management of impaired wound healing due to total-body irradiation

Abstract

Combined radiation and wound injury (CRWI) occurs in nuclear attacks and severe nuclear accidents. The possibility of radiological terrorist attack further emphasizes the significance of studies on CRWI. This kind of skin wound is very complex and difficult to heal since a high dose of total-body irradiation could delay wound healing and cause bone marrow dysplasia. Since the 1990s, the study of impaired wound healing due to total-body irradiation (TBI) has been emphasized in China. In this article, the pathological basis of the wound-healing process after TBI are reviewed and experimental management using traditional agents, growth factors, stem cells, and allo-skin transplantation in this kind of healing-impaired wound is also discussed.