Effect of papaverine on wound healing of full-thickness skin defect after skin stretching / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To investigate the effect of papaverine on wound healing of full-thickness skin defect after skin stretching in swine.@*Methods@#Eight Bama pigs were prepared. Standard full-thickness skin defect for 7 cm×7 cm was produced in the middle part of each pig's forelimb, and skin traction was used to close the wound. According to random number table method, the pigs were divided into experiment group and control group, with four pigs in each group. Percutaneous oxygen partial pressure (TcPO2) was compared preoperatively and postoperatively. Wound healing clinical score was evaluated four and 10 days after operation. Weidner counting method was employed to determine the microvascular density (MVD) of the wound edge tissue 0 and 10 days after operation. Immunohistochemistry was used to observe the expression of hypoxia inducible factor 1-α (HIF- 1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) 0, 4 and 10 days after operation.@*Results@#There was no statistically significant difference in TcPO2 between the experiment group [(55.1±5.4)mmHg] and the control group [(54.7±5.9)mmHg] before skin stretching (P>0.05), while statistically significant difference was found after stretching [(22.7±3.3)mmHg vs. (16.4±3.4)mmHg] (P<0.01). There was no statistically significant difference in clinical wound healing scores between the control group and experiment group 4 days after skin stretching [(2.6±0.7)points vs. (2.1±0.4)points] (P>0.05), but better result was found in experiment group compared with the control group in 10 days [(1.3±0.5)points vs. (4.6±0.7)points] (P<0.01). MVD of skin tissue showed no statistically significant difference between the control group (8.5±1.3) and the experiment group (9.3±1.2) immediately after skin stretching (P>0.05), while the MVD of wound skin tissue in the experiment group (29.5±4.8) was significantly higher than that in the control group (21.1±3.4) 10 days after skin stretching (P<0.01). After skin stretching, the HIF-1 alpha expression in experiment group was significantly higher than the control group 4 days after skin stretching [(50.0±7.0) vs. (38.6±7.0)] (P<0.01), but no statistical significance was found between that at 0 day and 10 days(P>0.05). The expression of VEGF in the wound skin tissues of the experiment group was significantly higher than that of the control group [(49.9±10.8) vs. (39.2±6.3)] at 4 days after skin stretching (P<0.05), while no statistically significance was found at 0 and 10 days (P>0.05).@*Conclusion@#For full-thickness skin defect after skin stretching in pigs, papaverine can alleviate small vessel spasm, improve skin edge oxygen supply, and promote the growth of microvessels, thus promoting the healing, which might be associated with the increase of HIF-1ɑ and VEGF expression.