The Journal of surgical research
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Our knowledge of afferent nerve fiber reinnervation of grafted skin following third-degree burn is limited by a lack of quantitative histological and psychophysical assessment from the same cutaneous area. The current study compares fiber profile and functional recovery measurements in injured and control skin from the same subject. ⋯ Observations support the hypothesis that sensory regeneration is fiber-size-dependent in burn-graft skin. The findings that substance P fiber growth increased while total fiber count decreased and that thermal threshold showed the greatest degree of functional recovery suggest that unmyelinated neurons have the greater ability to transverse scar tissue and reinnervate grafted skin following third-degree burn injury.