Surgical treatment for rabbits' femoral arteries subjected to gunshot wounds combining with seawater immersion.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the surgical treatment methods and evaluate the outcome of gunshot wounds combining with seawater immersion in rabbits' femoral arteries.


METHODS
One hundred healthy New Zealand white rabbits (either sex, 3.14 kg+/-0.61 kg in weight) were randomly divided into a seawater immersion group (n=50) and a simple injury group (n=50). The unilateral femoral arteries of all the rabbits were injured by 0.38 g steel spheres with velocity of 600-800 m/s fired by a 7.62 mm rifle. The rabbits in the seawater immersion group were immersed in seawater (saline content of 2.54%, pH 8.2-8.4, and at 21 degrees C) for 60 minutes but those in the simple injury group were not. After the injured segment (observed by naked eyes) of the femoral artery was excised, the blood flow restoration was reconstructed by direct end-to-end anastomosis, reversed autogenous venous grafting or cryopreserved arterial allografting, according to the length of the arterial defects. At 24 hours, and 7, 14 and 21 days after operation, the blood flow was examined. Operative exploration was performed for the animals with partly or fully obstructed blood flow. The tissues around the anastomosis sites and the grafts were harvested for pathological observation under a light microscope and an electron microscope.


RESULTS
In the rabbits with completely transected injury, the unobstructed rates in the first 3 weeks after operation were 80.00% in the seawater immersion group and 86.67% in the single injury group, and no significant difference was found between the two groups (P>0.1). In the rabbits with arterial contusion injury, the unobstructed rates in the first 3 weeks after operation were 86.67% in the seawater immersion group and 82.35% in the single injury group, and no significant difference was found between the two groups (P>0.1). Most thrombosis occurred in the first operative week. Atypical endothelial cells were detected at the anastomosis sites at the first operative week, and the anastomosis sites were lined with endothelial cells in 3 weeks postoperatively.


CONCLUSIONS
During the surgical treatment for gunshot wounds combining with seawater immersion, resection of the grossly-injured artery and routine artery reconstruction can obtain satisfactory outcome. Homologous artery is a kind of vascular graft with certain applied value.
Liu
Peng
P
Department of Orthopaedics, Research Institute of Field Surgery & Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China. 13983013862@vip.163.com
Peng
Xue-liang
XL
Liu
Jin-cai
JC
Lai
Xi-nan
XN
Zhang
Liang-chao
LC
Wu
Guo-ping
GP
Wang
Li-li
LL
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006875:Hydrotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D011817:Rabbits; D011859:Radiography; D011897:Random Allocation; D012623:Seawater; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014945:Wound Healing; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*