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Pre- and/or Postsurgical Administration of Estradiol Benzoate Increases Skin Flap Viability in Female Rats

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Abstract

Background

It has been shown that estrogens have a protective effect with regard to tissue ischemia. Therefore, in this macroscopic and histological investigation, the effect of estradiol benzoate on skin flap viability was studied in sham-operated and ovariectomized Sprague-Dawley rats.

Methods

Three months prior to flap surgery a group of rats underwent ovariectomy, while the remaining animals underwent a sham operation. Subsequently, all rats had a 2 × 8-cm skin flap created on the dorsum. Rats were randomly divided into estradiol- or saline-treated groups. Treatment started either on the day of flap excision or 3 days prior to the surgery.

Results

Our results showed that administration of estradiol benzoate prior to and after flap surgery significantly decreases skin flap necrosis in both sham-operated and ovariectomized rats, with the highest survival rate in animals where treatment started 3 days prior to flap surgery.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the observed protective effect of estradiol on skin flap viability could potentially be applied to plastic and reconstructive surgery in postmenopausal women. Nevertheless, further research is needed to explain the exact underlying mechanism and to find the optimal treatment protocol for human clinical practice.

Level of Evidence I

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Acknowledgment

The authors thank B. J. Matthews, MD (Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK), for his editorial help in preparing the manuscript. This study was supported in part by the Grant Agency of Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Sport of the Slovak Republic (VEGA No. 1/1095/11), by the Charles University in Prague (project for support of specific university student research No. 266 513) by institutional student grants of the P. J. Šafárik University in Košice (VVGS-39/12-13).

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathological Anatomy, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, Košice, Slovak Republic

    Tomáš Vasilenko, Iveta Tomková, Ľudovít Lenhardt & Mikukáš Levkut

  2. Department of Surgery, Košice-Šaca Hospital and Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Košice, Slovak Republic

    Tomáš Vasilenko & Andrej Vrzgula

  3. Department for Biomedical Research, East-Slovak Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Ondavská 8, Košice, 040 11, Slovak Republic

    Martin Slezák, Ivan Kováč, Ján Ďurkáč & Peter Gál

  4. Department of Pathological Physiology, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Košice, Slovak Republic

    Martin Novotný

  5. Second Department of Surgery, Louise Pasteur University Hospital and Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Košice, Slovak Republic

    Ivan Kováč

  6. Department of Vascular Surgery, East-Slovak Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Košice, Slovak Republic

    Norbert Torma

  7. Institute of Anatomy, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Peter Gál

  8. Institute of Experimental Physics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Košice, Slovak Republic

    Peter Gál

Authors
  1. Tomáš Vasilenko
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  2. Martin Slezák
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  3. Martin Novotný
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  4. Ivan Kováč
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  5. Ján Ďurkáč
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  6. Iveta Tomková
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  8. Andrej Vrzgula
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  9. Ľudovít Lenhardt
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  10. Mikukáš Levkut
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  11. Peter Gál
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Gál.

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Vasilenko, T., Slezák, M., Novotný, M. et al. Pre- and/or Postsurgical Administration of Estradiol Benzoate Increases Skin Flap Viability in Female Rats. Aesth Plast Surg 37, 1003–1009 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-013-0151-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-013-0151-z

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