Thrombogenic stimulus causes long-term decrease of muscle flap perfusion.
This study was designed to evaluate the effect of a continuous thrombogenic insult at the feeding artery on skeletal muscle flap perfusion over 24 hours. Twelve male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two experimental groups. In the control group (N = 6) and in the treatment group (N = 6) the right cremaster muscle was isolated on its neurovascular pedicle and the tubular muscle flap was preserved in the medial part of the hind limb over a 24-hour period for subsequent microcirculatory observation. In the treatment group, an inverting suture was applied over half of the circumference of the ipsilateral common iliac artery to create a continuous thrombogenic stimulus. Intravital microcirculatory measurements obtained were red blood cell velocities, vessel diameters, capillary perfusion, endothelial edema index, and leukocytic-endothelial interactions. There were no statistically significant differences seen in red blood cell velocities, vessel diameters, and leukocytic-endothelial interactions between the groups. However, the inverting suture caused a significant drop in capillary perfusion from 6.23 to 1.50 capillaries per visual field (median; p = 0.002). An arterial thrombogenic insult may result in a significant decrease in capillary perfusion in muscle flaps over 24 hours although the blood flow through the thrombogenic main feeding vessel is maintained.
Krapohl
B D
BD
Orthopädische Klinik Kassel, Germany.
Siemionow
M
M
Piza
P
P
Pieramici
S F
SF
Zins
J E
JE
D000818:Animals; D001158:Arteries / Q000473:pathology; D006439:Hemodynamics; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000098:blood supply*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000098:blood supply*; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000473:pathology*