The effect of capsaicin on anastomotic safety in an experimental colonanastomosis model established in rats

Introduction: Colon and rectum operations have an important place in general surgery clinics. Surgical interventions are performed for many reasons such as inflammatory bowel diseases, traumas, colitis, diverticulosis, mechanical intestinal obstruction, prolapse and colorectal carcinomas. Various complications can be seen after colon and rectal operations. The most common complications are bleeding, stenosis, abdominal sepsis, postoperative ileus, fistula, evisceration, ureteral lesion, colostomy problems, upper mesenteric vessel damage and anastomotic leakage, which is one of the most important complications. Scientists are trying to develop different methods to prevent anastomotic leaks. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of experimental capsaicin application on wound healing in colon anastomosis. Method: For this purpose, three groups were formed: the control group, the capsaicin group and the glutamine group with known effectiveness in wound healing (for comparison purposes), and 10 randomly selected female Wistar albino rats were used in each group. Rats with resection anastomosis were fed only with standard rat chow and drinking water. Glutamine was given 0.5 mg/kg/day by oral gavage to the Glutamine group, and Capsaicin (Capsicum sp., Sigma-Aldrich) was given to the capsaicin group by 5 mg/kg/day oral gavage. Colon anastomotic pressure (bursting pressure) was measured after sacrificing on the 7th postoperative day, tissue samples taken were identified, as follow-up procedure and histopathological examinations after staining; tissue inflammation, vascularization, fibrosis, reepithelialization and collagen amount were measured and scored. Results: Bursting pressure values were found to be statistically highly significant between both capsaicin - control group and glutamine - control group (p<0.001). Bursting pressures were close to each other between capsaicin and glutamine. Although the capsaicin group values were higher than the control group in collagenization, fibrosis density, degree of inflammation and vascular proliferation parameters, it was found to be statistically insignificant (p: 0.091). However, in the reepithelialization parameter, both glutamine and capsaicin were statistically highly significantly between the control group (p: 0.001). Conclucion: When the mechanical and histopathological parameters are evaluated, Capsaicin administered by gavage positively affected the healing of the anastomosis in the distal segment of the colon. However, the results will be more meaningful with the use of extensive different subject studies and advanced additional examination methods. Key words: capsaicin, colon anastomosis, glutamine, rat