The effect of prophylactic doses of nadroparin and therapeutic doses of betamethasone on skin flap survival in rats

Application of pedicle flaps is of great importance in orthopaedics and reconstructive surgery. It has been postulated that anticoagulants or anti-inflammatory treatments may have advantageous effect on pedicle flap survival. The aim of this study was to investigate whether: 1. low-molecular-weight heparin given at prophylactic doses or 2. steroids given at therapeutic doses improve survival of dorsal pedicle flap in rats. Thirty four animals divided into three groups were used for the experiments: Group I (N=12) was treated with low-molecular-weight heparin (nadroparin, 40 IU per kilogram of body mass/day). Group II (N=12) received single injection of betamethasone (intramuscularly, 0.1 mg per kilogram of body mass). Group III (N=10) received sterile saline (0.9% NaCl) subcutaneously as placebo. All animals were housed individually in an environmentally controlled room. After seven days from the operation, 51.7% of the dorsal flaps survived in group I and 48.3% in the group II. These results were comparable to those in the control animals. Our results indicate that neither low dose heparin (nadroparin) used at prophylactic doses nor steroids used at therapeutic doses had any effect on dorsal pedicle flap survival in rats.