title: Vaginal incisional wound healing in a rabbit menopause model: a histologic analysis.
abstract: INTODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The vaginal wound healing process is a major determinant of surgical outcome following pelvic reconstructive surgery. Since the majority of these surgeries are performed in peri- and postmenopausal women, it is essential to understand how estrogen deficiency affects this process. We aimed to histologically evaluate the vaginal incisional wound healing process in a rabbit menopause model.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty three rabbits were utilized and divided into 3 groups: Twenty one underwent bilateral oophorectomy, 21 underwent a sham surgery, and 21 served as controls. Eight weeks later, standardized full-thickness 6 mm circular segments were excised from the vagina of all rabbits and spontaneous healing was recorded. Animals were euthanized sequentially, before wounding, and at 0, 4, 7, 14, 21 and 35 days after wounding, and their wounds were harvested and assessed histologically for wound healing using a validated scoring system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Oophorectomized rabbits showed significantly delayed wound closure (p < 0.02), neovascularization (p < 0.01), granulation tissue accumulation and maturation (p < 0.02), collagen deposition (p < 0.01) and re-epithelialization (p < 0.01), however acute and chronic inflammation were significantly enhanced (p < 0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oophorectomized rabbits show protracted incisional vaginal wound healing by all histologic criteria, however, inflammation is significantly enhanced.
authors.affiliation: Division of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery, Carmel Medical Center, Technion University, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Haifa, Israel. yabramov@012.net.il
authors.forename: Yoram
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Abramov
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Golden
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: Roger P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.forename: Peter K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Sand
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology; D010052:Ovariectomy; D011817:Rabbits; D014621:Vagina / Q000601:surgery*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology