title: Intraoral coverage of defects with the superficial epigastric fat flap in rats.
abstract: The standard superficial epigastric artery flap has become a reliable model for flap research. The purpose of this study was to design a flap model in the rat, with the possibility of intraoral coverage of defects. A fat flap based only on the medial trunk of the superficial epigastric vessels was generated, raised to the neck, and used for the coverage of a created intraoral defect in 28 Sprague-Dawley rats. Twenty-five epigastric flaps were raised and anastomosed to the neck, and three flaps were sutured into the oral cavity as a control without anastomosing the vessels to the rat's neck. For histological examination, each of the five flaps was harvested after 7, 14, and 35 days. A total of five rats died perioperatively, and 23 rats survived. One epigastric fat flaps became necrotic, which attracted attention by dehiscence after 3 or 4 days postoperatively, consisting of one anastomosed and all nonvascularized flaps. A swollen cheek was noted in these cases after about 5 days. Although this model demands the control of basic microsurgical techniques, it is possible to use it as a training model for further refining microsurgical techniques in flap raising. It is planned to use this flap as a model for healing purposes in the oral cavity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Technische Universität München, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Germany. th.mucke@gmx.de
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mücke
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hölzle
authors.forename: Denys J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Loeffelbein
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haarmann
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Klaus-Dietrich
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.forename: Marco R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Kesting
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000637:transplantation; D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D000818:Animals; D008866:Microsurgery; D009333:Neck / Q000601:surgery; D009336:Necrosis; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000473:pathology; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous