The influence of subcutaneously injected recombinant human basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on wound healing in normal (n = 20) and ischaemic (n = 28) skin tissue was investigated. Standardized wounds (5 mm2) were created on the ears of hairless mice and treated for the first 3 days after wound creation with total doses of 720 ng (n = 24) and 4050 ng (n = 24) bFGF. The bFGF had no effect on wound healing in non-ischaemic tissue. In ischaemic skin, mean(s.d.) wound surface area after treatment with 720 ng bFGF was 1.6(0.9), 0.5(0.6) and 0.1(0.3) mm2 compared with 2.8(1.0), 1.4(1.0) and 0.8(0.7) mm2 for control wounds on days 7 (P < 0.04), 10 (P < 0.03) and 13 (P < 0.04) respectively. High-dose bFGF (4050 ng) reduced the mean(s.d.) wound surface area to 2.4(0.7) and 0.8(0.7) mm2 compared with 3.9(0.6) and 2.1(0.8) mm2 for control wounds on days 7 (P < 0.006) and 10 (P < 0.02) respectively. These results suggest that bFGF may be of use for the treatment of wounds in ischaemic tissue.