The Effect of Different Preoperative Depilation Ways on the Healing of Wounded Skin in Mice

Abstract

Hair removal is necessary before operating on animals with dense hair layers. To provide an appropriate hair removal method and maintain animal welfare, we introduced four commonly used depilation methods—namely, scissors shearing, electric shaving, depilatory cream, and sodium sulfide, and made systematic comparisons, instead of only examining one or two methods, as reported in the past. To further assess convenience and possible effects on skin wound healing, we performed a skin trauma model after depilation in C57BL/6J mice and recorded wound healing time. Meanwhile, the skin tissues around the wound were stained with H&E and Masson. The results showed that the wound contraction rate of the sodium sulfide group was significantly lower than other groups at different points in time. Furthermore, depilatory cream and sodium sulfide methods could induce a topical inflammatory response on the third day after the operation and delay the regeneration of collagen fibers. We concluded that sodium sulfide depilatory has a significant negative effect on wound healing. Depilatory cream is gentler, with mild skin irritation and symptoms of inflammation. The electric shaving method is more convenient and safer, and thus could be the best choice for preoperative depilation.