The efficacy of topical phenytoin and capsaicin on random pattern dorsal skin flaps in rats

Abstract

AIM: We investigated the effıcacy 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.