title: Natural history of extensive diaphragmatic injury on the right side: experimental study in rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the natural healing of the rat diaphragm that suffered an extensive right penetrating injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Animals were submitted to an extensive penetrating injury in right diaphragm. The sample consisted of 40 animals. The variables studied were initial weight, weight 21 days after surgery; healing of the diaphragm, non-healing of the diaphragm, and herniated abdominal contents into the chest.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ten animals were used as controls for weight and 30 animals were operated. Two animals died during the experiment, so 28 animals formed the operated group; healing of the diaphragm occurred in 15 animals (54%), 11 other animals showed diaphragmatic hernia (39%) and in two we observed only diaphragmatic injury without hernia (7%). Among the herniated organs, the liver was found in 100% of animals, followed by the omentum in 77%, small bowel in 62%, colon in 46%, stomach in 31% and spleen in 15%. The control group and the diaphragmatic healing subgroup showed increased weight since the beginning of the study and the 21 days after surgery (p <0.001). The unhealed group showed no change in weight (p = 0.228).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  there is a predominance of spontaneous healing in the right diaphragm; animals in which there was no healing of the diaphragm did not gain weight, and the liver was the organ present in 100% the diaphragmatic surface in all rats with healed diaphragm or not.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Santa Casa da Misericórdia, São Paulo.
authors.forename: Jorge Henrique
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Rivaben
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Santa Casa da Misericórdia, São Paulo.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saad
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Santa Casa da Misericórdia, São Paulo.
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dorgan Neto
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Santa Casa da Misericórdia, São Paulo.
authors.forename: Marcio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Botter
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Santa Casa da Misericórdia, São Paulo.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003964:Diaphragm / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery*; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D051381:Rats; D014945:Wound Healing; D014950:Wounds, Penetrating / Q000601:surgery*