Effects of venous supercharging in deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flap.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effects of venous supercharging in deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flap in rats.


METHODS
20 Wistar rats were randomized in 2 groups: control group (C), all had flaps raised based on the deep inferior epigastric perforator vessels (DIEP), and experimental group (E), which was identical to group C, except that the contralateral superficial inferior epigastric vein was also kept with the flap. Flow studies using laser Doppler flowmetry where performed daily in the four zones of the flap. On the 7th postoperative day rats were killed and flap survival was determined using digital planimetry.


RESULTS
Flow values were presented as a percentage of the baseline flow after incision of the flap edges. The surviving flap area was demonstrated as a percentage of the total flap area. Evaluation by digital planimetry showed that flap survival in group E was higher than in group C (97,38%+/-1,32%vs.44,13%+/-4,83%, p=0,0006).


CONCLUSIONS
This study shows that venous supercharging of the rat DIEP flap results in greater flap survival.
Groth
Anne Karoline
AK
Post-Graduate Program in Clinical Surgery, UFPR, Curitiba, Brazil. annegroth@gmail.com
Campos
Antônio Carlos Ligocki
AC
Gonçalves
Carolina Gomes
CG
Silva
Ruy Fernando Caetano da
RF
Silva
Alfredo Benjamim Duarte da
AB
Greca
Fernando Hintz
FH
Graf
Ruth
R
D000818:Animals; D019074:Epigastric Arteries; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000098:blood supply*