Title.

AIM: We investigated the efficacy of topical phenytoin and capsaicin on random pattern dorsal skin flaps in rats. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Twenty one Wistar rats were used in the study. Random-pattern McFarlane dorsal flaps 3 cm x 10 cm were raised in all the rats .A plastic barrier was placed between the flap and its donor site The flaps were sutured back to the original position with 4/0 nylon sutures. The rats were randomly divided into three groups (n=7). Group I was given only gel, Group II was given 2 gr gel with % 1 phenytoin and Group III was given 2gr gel with %0.1 capsaicin and pure gel. Capsaicin application were used twice a day on 2 consecutive days,subsequently Group III was given only gel on 5 consecutive days. Phenytoin and placebo application were used twice a day on 7 consecutive days. Images were transferred to a computer and ratio of flap necrosis area to total flap area was calculated RESULT: The mean percentage of necrosis in the flaps were 37.27±3.86%, 36.3±6.2%, 23.4±5.9 % in the control, phenytoin and capsaicin groups, respectively. The percentage of flap necrosis was significantly lower in the Capsaicin Group compared to the control group (37.27% vs 23.4%, p<0.01). Although phenytoin had a lower mean percentage of flap necrosins than the control group, this difference was not significant (37.27 vs 36.3 , p>0.05). CONCLUSION: We showed topical capsaicin increased the random pattern skin flap survival in rats whereas topical phenytoin had no positive effect. We believe that further studies are required to investigate the efficiency of topical phenytoin applications. KEY WORDS: Capsaicin, Phenytoin, Skin flaps.

Intermittent ischaemia of skin flaps shortens time taken to divide pedicles: an experimental study in rats.

Ischaemic preconditioning increases the survival of flaps. Random-pattern McFarlane dorsal flaps were raised in 30 female Wistar rats, which were divided into three groups. An ischaemic conditioning protocol with clamping of the pedicle was used. No clamping was used in the control group, and the pedicle was clamped for 15 minutes in the second group and 20 minutes in the third group daily to see if the duration of ischaemia had any effects on the viability of the flaps. The pedicles were divided earlier in the clamped groups than in the control group. The size of necrotic areas of the flaps in the clamped groups was smaller than on the control group. Daily postoperative intermittent ischaemic conditioning in the pedicles of the flaps had a protective effect on their survival and led to earlier division of the pedicles.