title: Efficacy of simvastatin in reducing postoperative adhesions after thyroidectomy: an experimental study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We aimed to investigate whether simvastatin had any impact on the prevention of adhesion formation after thyroidectomy in a rat model.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was performed in 66 Wistar albino rats randomized into three experimental groups. A right hemithyroidectomy was carried out in all the rats. Simvastatin was administered locally at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg and 0.8 mg/kg. Control rats received a saline solution only. Changes during the 1st week, 1st month and 3rd month were evaluated. Efficacy of the treatment was assessed by using a scoring system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The severity of adhesions in low-dose simvastatin group was significantly less than the control and high-dose groups during the 1st and 3rd month (p < .05). In addition, adhesions were less in the high dose group during the 3rd month, when compared to the control group (p < .05). Moreover, fibrosis and fibroblast scores, which represent adhesions, were significantly lower in low-dose and high-dose groups at 3rd month, compared to controls (p < .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We investigated the influence of simvastatin application on post-thyroidectomy adhesion formation in rats. Whether adhesions, causing technical difficulties during neck redo surgery, can be reduced by the use of simvastatin in human, needs to be studied.
authors.affiliation: a Department of General Surgery, School of Medicine , Ege University , Bornova , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Ozer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Makay
authors.affiliation: a Department of General Surgery, School of Medicine , Ege University , Bornova , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Dilek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Isik
authors.affiliation: b Department of General Surgery , Zubeyde Hanim Practice and Research Center, Baskent University , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Varlik
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Erol
authors.affiliation: c Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine , Adnan Menderes University , Aydın , Turkey.
authors.forename: Cigdem
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yenisey
authors.affiliation: d Department of Biostatistics, School of Medicine , Ege University , Bornova , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Timur
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kose
authors.affiliation: a Department of General Surgery, School of Medicine , Ege University , Bornova , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Gokhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Icoz
authors.affiliation: e Department of Pathology, School of Medicine , Ege University , Bornova , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Yesim
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ertan
authors.affiliation: f Department of Gastroenterology, School of Medicine , Ege University , Bornova , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Omer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ozutemiz
authors.affiliation: a Department of General Surgery, School of Medicine , Ege University , Bornova , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Mahir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akyildiz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D015552:Injections, Intralesional; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012016:Reference Values; D019821:Simvastatin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013965:Thyroidectomy / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D000267:Tissue Adhesions / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019821:Simvastatin
keywords: Head and neck; endocrine; thyroid surgery