Pig Acute Thermal Injury Healing
Duration of study - 14 days
Lead time - 30 days
Standard results - Wound size measurements, Histology
Model Utility:
This thermal injury model is used to screen thermal injury healing products and medical devices for effectiveness and safety.
How the Model Works:
In this model, 2nd or 3rd degree burns are made on the dorsal thorax of the animal. Generally, protocols utilize twenty, 2.0cm diameter wounds per animal; however, the size and number of wounds created can vary based on the needs of the experiment. The wounds may then be treated with the experimental agent or medical device. These can be in the form of a liquid, gel, powder, or solid (typically cut to wound size). The wounds will then be bandaged with an appropriate bandage for the type of material used and allowed to heal for typically 14 to 28 days. The wounds will be measured and/or assessed twice per week. Treatments may be applied as often as once per day.
At the end of the protocol, the animal is euthanized, and the burned area is collected for histological or other analysis.
Example Data:
Figure 1. A comparison of average wound size compared to day 0 of acute thermal injuries. Three concentrations of the same material were compared to a non-treated control.
Advantages:
This model is considered to very closely approximate human thermal injury healing. BRIDGE PTS is very familiar with this model. Due to the spacing of the wound on the animal, multiple test materials can be tested on a single animal. This could allow for higher throughput screening.
This model can be used to assess debridement. See Pig Debridment Effectiveness.
This model can also be performed with infection! See Pig Infected Thermal Injury Healing.
Disadvantages:
If multiple test materials are placed on a single animal, it is difficult or impossible to assess systemic effects that the materials may have.
Although 2nd degree burns are included in this model, the severity of burn can be difficult to control.
References
Telgenhoff D, Lam K, Ramsay S, Vasquez V, Villareal K, Slusarewicz P, Attar P, Shroot B. Influence of papain urea copper chlorophyllin on wound matrix remodeling. Wound Repair Regen. 2007 Sep-Oct;15(5):727-35