Remodeling phase (scar tissue mobilization)

Remodeling phase

-can be as early as 3/9 days or can start a few mos after injury

-final aggregation, orientation, and arrangement of collagen fibers

-tensile strength is initially 15% but toward the end may be close to near normal

For a successful healing a scar must

-have tissue in the same line as it is replacing

-be as long as the tissue it's replacing (or it'll restrict motion)

-not adhered to adjacent structures

-be of sufficient quality and quantity to accept the compressive, distractive, and shearing stresses to which it is subjected

a scars final physical characteristics and maturation is dependent upon

-synthesis-lysis balance and fiber orientation

-in a healthy body, synthesis-lysis balance of collagen is at an equal rate

after injury collagen synthesis is

-accelerated in and around injured area

two theories regarding forces that direct fiber orientation

-induction theory

-tension theory

Induction theory

-scar tissue fiber orientation mimics the tissue its replacing

tension theory

-that scar tissue is molded by functional activity and the stresses it places on the area