Mechanical tension increases nerve density, nerve growth factor expression in scar tissue

Scars are prone to appear at high tension parts, such as the sternum, shoulder and back, which are serious clinical problems. Surgeons reduce scar formation through Z, W, V-Y flap variation and reducing blade tension, but its specific mechanism are still not very clear. Hu Xiao and colleagues from Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University verified that mechanical tension contributed to the formation of a hyperplastic scar in the back skin of rats, in conjunction with increases in both nerve density and nerve growth factor expression in the scar tissue.

These experimental findings indicate that the cutaneous nervous system plays a role in hypertrophic scar formation caused by mechanical tension, which have been published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 17, 2013).