FOR NEARLY a century surgeons have sought for a safe simple method of utilizing fibrous tissue in the repair of subcutaneous defects. Kirschner,1 Neuhof,2 and Gallie and LeMesurier3 published reports on the use of fascia lata; others, notably Loewe,4 Rehn,5 Uihlein,6 Mair,7 Cannady,8 Peer and Paddock,9 Harkins,10 and Marsden,11 published experimental and clinical data on the use of whole-thickness skin, or dermis. The final answer to the clinical use of skin as a reparative tissue would appear to be contained in Strahan's paper.12 He reported 413 herniae in which buried skin was used as a reinforcing tissue. A substantial number of postoperative cysts and chronic sinuses due to persistent epithelial cells occurred without an offsetting reduction in the recurrence rate.
That cysts would probably be formed if living epithelial cells were buried in mesothelial tissues was pointed out