Influence of gender, age, shelf-life, and conservation method on the biomechanical behavior of colon tissue under dynamic solicitation.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Data from biomechanical tissue sample studies of the human digestive tract are highly variable. The aim of this study was to investigate 4 factors which could modify the mechanical response of human colonic specimens placed under dynamic solicitation until tissue rupture gender, age, shelf-life and conservation method. METHODS: We performed uniaxial dynamic tests of human colonic specimens. Specimens were taken according to three different protocols refrigerated cadavers without embalming, embalmed cadavers and fresh colonic tissue. A total of 143 specimens were subjected to tensile tests, at a speed of 1 m s-1. FINDINGS: Young's modulus of the different conservation protocols are as follows embalmed, 3.08 ±â€¯1.99; fresh, 2.97 ±â€¯2.59; and refrigerated 3.17 ±â€¯2.05. The type of conservation does not modify the stiffness of the tissue (p = 0.26) but does modify the stress necessary for rupture (p < 0.001) and the strain required to obtain lesions of the outer layer and the inner layer (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively). Gender is also a factor responsible for a change in the mechanical response of the colon. The age of the subjects and the shelf-life of the bodies did not represent factors influencing the mechanical behavior of the colon (p > 0.05). INTERPRETATION: The mechanical response of the colon tissue showed a biphasic injury process depending on gender and method of preservation. The age and shelf-life of anatomical subjects do not alter the mechanical response of the colon.