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Marie Jaeger,1,* Moti Harats,1,* Rachel Kornhaber,2 Uri Aviv,1 Amir Zerach,1 Josef Haik1,3 1Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel; 2School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, University of Tasmania, Sydney, NSW, Australia; 3Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel *These authors contributed equally to this work. Abstract: Hypergranulation tissue (or also known as overgranulation) may negatively influence burn wound healing time and contribute to recurrence of contractures in burn wounds and grafts. Subsequently, the treatment of hypergranulation tissue remains controversial and problematic. In this case series, we aimed to examine the feasibility and document the use of topical hydrocortisone in the treatment of hypergranulation tissue formation resulting from burn wounds. We report five cases where hypergranulation tissue developed following deep dermal/full-thickness burns. Initial burn wound treatment included necrotic tissue debridement, wound cleansing, and Flaminal®. All five cases underwent surgical debridement and split-skin ­grafting. Upon identification of hypergranulation tissue, hydrocortisone acetate 0.25% was applied ­topically as usual care for the treatment of hypergranulation tissue. All five patients had deep dermal/full-thickness burns with a total body surface area ranging from 22% to 61% and were aged from 3–41 years. All five cases developed hypergranulation tissue during their admission after debridement and split-thickness skin grafts. All patients showed an improvement in the treated areas with a complete regression of hypergranulation tissue and closure of the burn wounds. No clinically apparent local or systemic side effects of the treatment were observed. Topical hydrocortisone can be utilized as an effective, inexpensive, and noninvasive practical option in the treatment of hypergranulation tissue resulting from burn wounds. Keywords: hypergranulation, overgranulation, proud flesh, burns, hydrocortisone, wound healing

Simple Summary: Horses are prone to develop a wound healing disorder on their limbs called exuberant granulation tissue (EGT). The exact mechanism for the formation of this tissue remains unknown but the inflammatory response is supposed to be an important contributing factor. In this article, we investigated this inflammatory response in both EGT wounds as well as in control horse wounds. In biopsies, we detected two types of immune cells: (1) immune cells involved in early inflammation (MAC387+ cells) and (2) immune cells important in the later phases of inflammation (CD163+ cells). We detected a higher number of immune cells in EGT wounds compared with the control wounds of 19 days old. This suggests that EGT wounds may not be able to proceed through further phases in the wound healing process or that the inflammation phase is prolonged. Exuberant granulation tissue (EGT) is a frequently encountered complication during second intention healing in equine distal limb wounds. Although it is still unknown what exactly triggers the formation of this tissue, previous research has revealed a persistent inflammatory response in these wounds. In this preliminary study we examined this inflammatory response in EGT-developing wounds as well as in experimental induced wounds. Immunohistological stainings were performed to detect primary inflammatory immune cells (MAC387 staining) as well as pro-resolution immune cells (CD163 staining). Our results show a significantly higher amount of MAC387+ and CD163+ cells in the fibrotic regions of EGT compared with the 19-day-old experimental wounds. This persistent high amount of fibrosis-promoting CD163+ cells in EGT suggests that the wound healing processes in EGT-developing wounds are arrested at the level of the proliferation phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]