OBJECTIVE
The current study aimed to compare the quality of tissue connection in flap plastic surgery using laser exposure and a traditional surgical suture in the experiment.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The experiment was conducted in male Wistar rats. Skin defect was modeled on the withers. The hair was removed, followed by skin excision and closure with skin flaps according to Grose and Werner method. Eighteen laboratory animals were divided into 2 groups, each group contained 9 animals: 1 — control with plastic surgery with counter flaps, performed by connecting the edges of the wound with single-row interrupted sutures, 2 — experimental with plastic surgery with counter flaps, connected with biological solder under the laser radiation. The gadget for laser connection of biological tissues was provided by the Laboratory of Biomedical Nanotechnologies of the Institute of Biomedical Systems of the National Research University. On days 7, 14 and 21, the animals were sacrificed; the tensile strength of the suture, the morphology, and cosmetic characteristics of the wound were examined.
RESULTS
Local application of laser exposure with auxiliary materials of biological solder based on bovine serum albumin, collagen, indocyanine green, single-walled carbon nanotubes, and water did not cause mortality of animals in the groups. On day 7, the tensile strength yielded to the interrupted joint and amounted to 1.8±0.2 MPa, while by day 14 it amounted to 3.2±0.5 MPa and was comparable to the interrupted suture 3.4±0.5 MPa, respectively. Regarding the cosmetic characteristics of the scar on the SCAR scale on day 21, the total score for the nodal connection with skin grafting was 4 points, while with the laser connection it was 1.
CONCLUSIONS
In plastic surgery, laser connection of wound edges with opposing flaps does not yield to the nodal connection in healing time of the surgical wound and strength on day 14. Also, it reduces the area of the scar and improves the cosmetic characteristics of the postoperative region on day 21.
