Preface

*Wound Healing - Recent Advances and Future Opportunities* is divided into three sections: "Clinical and Physiology Reviews", "Treatment and Management of Specific Skin Conditions", and "Innovative Technologies and Therapies for Wound Healing". It discusses the physiology and pathophysiology of skin conditions as well as treatments and novel approaches for skin regeneration and restoration in terms of structure and function.

Each year, worldwide healthcare systems face an increasing number of patients suffering from skin wounds that result from the breakdown of anatomical continuity and integrity of the epidermis, with consequent functional changes. Skin wounds can vary from acute superficial injuries such as surgical wounds to challenging-to-treat wounds like full-thickness and chronic wounds, burns, and ulcers that require different medical and/or surgical treatments. The treatments currently available to accelerate skin regeneration in fullthickness wounds are based on skin grafting therapies and cell suspensions, which are expensive, inaccessible, and require a donor. They are also associated with a risk of rejection. For this reason, dressings are considered an easy and effective alternative. However, to treat wounds with demanding requirements, dressings also must present advanced functionalities such as antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, or angiogenic properties.

Therapeutic advances based on new and innovative therapeutic options, medical devices, and biomaterials to promote wound healing are being explored and studied by the scientific and clinical community. This book discusses these advances in human and veterinary medicine. It describes advances in surgical wound closure devices and how they impact and support surgical wound healing by minimizing complications such as infection, dehiscence, and incisional hernia. It also reviews new technologies such as cell-based therapies, biomaterials, and medical devices from the World Health Organization's One Health perspective, which is a collaborative approach to achieving optimal health for humans, animals, and the environment. The book also discusses some important dermatological pathologies and skin conditions with the aim of creating a theoretical and practical reference for future research on chronic wound healing.

The editors would like to thank the team at IntechOpen for their assistance and support throughout the publication process.

> **Ana Colette Maurício** Full Professor, Department of Veterinary Clinics, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto (UP), Porto, Portugal
