title: Effect of surgical denervation on the viability of inferior epigastric neurovenous flaps in the rat.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine how the inferior epigastric neurovenous flap in the rat reacts to surgical denervation. The survival of a denervated flap was compared with that of an innervated flap. A 2 x 2-cm flap was raised in 30 female Wistar rats assigned randomly to six groups of 10 rats each: group 1, innervated neurovenous flap; group 2, denervated neurovenous flap, acute model; group 3, denervated neurovenous flap, chronic model; group 4, innervated inferior epigastric island flap; group 5, denervated inferior epigastric island flap, acute model; and group 6, control, composite graft. Acute denervation produced a significant decrease in the survival of the inferior epigastric neurovenous flap (p < 0.05). The surviving area of the innervated flaps decreased from 94+/-14% (mean +/- standard deviation) to 16+/-34% by acute denervation. Chronic denervation was effective in decreasing flap necrosis in these flaps (survival, 99+/-5%). There were no differences between the average viable area of the standard inferior epigastric flap in the denervated and innervated groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Medical Faculty of Uludağ University, Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karacalar
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Oztürk
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ozcan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003714:Denervation; D005260:Female; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000294:innervation*