Combined effect of fat graft and platelet-rich fibrin on perineural adhesion and scar formation in a rat model

One of the most important factors that adversely affect the outcome of peripheral nerve surgery is the formation of epineural and extraneural scar tissue after surgery. Many surgical methods, pharmacological agents and chemical agents have been used to prevent the formation of epineural scar tissue, but satisfactory results have not been achieved in clinical applications. The aim of this study was to investigate the combined effect of fat graft and platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) on the formation of epineural scar tissue in the mature rat model. Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley female rats were used in the study. After skin incisions, the right and left sciatic nerves were carefully dissected and removed from the gluteal muscles. 0.5 cm circumferential epineurectomy was performed on both nerves. The right sciatic nerve was wrapped with fat graft and PRF mixture and used as experimental group. The left sciatic nerve was determined as the sham group without any intervention. Twelve randomly selected rats were sacrificed at 4th week for histopathological examination of early epineural scar formation. The other 12 rats were sacrificed at the 8th week for late results and sent for histopathological examination. As a result; combination of fat graft + PRF decreased postoperative adhesion and scar tissue formation in epineurectomy nerves both early and late.