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ANNALS OF PLASTIC SURGERY, vol.45, no.3, pp.298-304, 2000 (SCI-Expanded)
The purpose of this study was to examine how the inferior epigastric neurovenous flap in the rat reacts to surgical denervation, The survival of a denervated flap was compared with that of an innervated flap. A 2 x 2-cm flap was raised in 30 female Wistar rats assigned randomly to six groups of 10 rats each: group 1, innervated neurovenous flap; group 2, denervated neurovenous flap, acute model; group 3, denervated neurovenous flap, chronic model; group 4, innervated inferior epigastric island flap; group 5, denervated inferior epigastric island flap, acute model; and group 6, control, composite graft. Acute denervation produced a significant decrease in the survival of the inferior epigastric neurovenous flap (p < 0.05), The surviving area of the innervated flaps decreased from 94 +/- 14% (mean +/- standard deviation) to 16 +/- 34% by acute denervation, Chronic denervation was effective in decreasing flap necrosis in these flaps (survival, 99 +/- 5%), There were no differences between the average viable area of the standard inferior epigastric flap in the denervated and innervated groups.