Effects of in vivo platelet gel application on air leakage and wound healing after pulmonary resection of dogs

IABSTRACTEFFECTS OF IN VIVO PLATELET GEL APPLICATION ON AIR LEAKAGEAND WOUND HEALING AFTER PULMONARY RESECTION OF DOGSDr. Ibrahim NACAK, Residency thesis, Department of Thoracic SurgerySupervisor: Prof. Dr. Levent ELBEYLIAugust 2006 , 46 pagePostoperative air leakage following pulmonary resections is a frequentlyencountered problem. Preventing and eliminating these leaks are importanttargets in thoracic surgery. Various adhesive materials to be used with orwithout sutures and staplers have been developed to minimize air leakage.Wound healing in the resection line is also important after pulmonaryresections.Platelet gel is composed of the combination of thrombin and platelet rich plasma(PRP), derived from whole blood by centrifuge technique. The aim of the usageof platelet gel is to benefit from its growth factors in the surgical area byproducing an environment suitable for cell migration and proliferation.The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether platelet gelsprayed to the resection site accelerates wound healing and prevents air leaksin dog lungs after wedge resection. Pulmonary resection was done to thedifferent lobes of the same lungs of ten dogs and platelet gel was applied tosome of these lobes. Biopsy samples were obtained from the sites with andwithout platelet gel application on the 3rd and 10th days. Wound healing on the3rd day in platelet gel applied tissues was better than tissues without plateletgel application, but this finding was not statistically significant (p=0.11). On the10th day, wound healıng in platelet gel applied tissues was significantly betterthan tissues without platelet gel application (p=0.009). Wound healing wassignificantly better with platelet gel applied tissues irrespective of the time ofsampling (p=0.003). We didn?t observe air leakage in both groups (with andwithout platelet gel application) in our study.In conclusion, platelet gel application following pulmonary resection,accelerates wound healing in both early and delayed periods. Acceleration ofwound healing may also prevent probable air leaks.Key words: Pulmoner resection, Air leak, Wound healing, Platelet gel.